High power diode-pumped continuous wave and Q-switch operation of Tm,Ho:YVO4 laser

Abstract

High power diode-pumped continuous wave (CW) and Q-switch operation of Tm,Ho:YVO4 laser is reported. Using two Tm,Ho:YVO 4 rods in a single cavity, up to 20.2 W of CW output lasing at 2054.7 nm was obtained under cryogenic temperature of 77 K with an optical to optical conversion efficiency of 32.9%. For Q-switch operation, up to 19.4 W of output was obtained under 15 kHz pulse repetition frequency (PRF) with a minimum pulse width of 24.2 ns. In addition, different pulse repetition frequencies of Q-switch operation with 10.0 kHz, 12.5 kHz and 15.0 kHz were investigated comparatively. The beam radius for the Tm,Ho:YVO4 laser as a function of the distance from focusing lens at 15 W CW output power level

Passive Q-switching of a Tm,Ho:KLu(WO_4)_2 microchip laser by a Cr:ZnS saturable absorber

“…[33][34][35][36]. Roomtemperature AOM Q-switched Tm,Ho:YLF lasers were also reported, however, with much worse output characteristics [37].…”

Continuous wave laser operation of Tm and Ho co-doped CaYAlO4 and CaGdAlO4 crystals

“…Due to the cross-relaxation processes in the TmTm system ( 3 H 4 þ 3 H 6 -3 F 4 þ 3 F 4 ) and following energy transfer in the Tm-Ho system ( 3 F 4 -5 I 7 ) [3], a maximal pump quantum efficiency could be expected. And many previous studies have been reported for generating 2.0 μm laser radiation by using Tm/Ho co-doped YAG [4], YLF [5], YVO 4 [6], and YAP [5].…”

Room temperature single-frequency output at 2118 nm from a diode-pumped Tm, Ho:YAP laser

“…Using rare earth ion thulium (Tm 3+ ) or holmium (Ho 3+ ) as an active ion, laser operation near the 2 µm wavelength range can be obtained [1][2][3][4][5]. In past years, several diode pumped single frequency lasers based on Tm or Tm-Ho ions hosted in garnet and fluoride crystals, with emission wavelengths at 2 µm have been demonstrated [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Thus single frequency 2 µm lasers are attractive for coherent Doppler Lidar, Dop pler velocimetry and wind measurement.…”