Passive Q switching of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser with a saturable absorber

Abstract

A diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser is passively Q switched by using F(2)(-) color centers in lithium fluoride as a saturable absorber. When cw pumped with a laser diode, the laser produces pulses of 20-30-nsec duration at 1064 nm, with an energy of as much as 20 microJ and a peak power of more than 1 kW. Data are presented on pulse width, energy, and repetition rate as a function of pump power. When the laser is operated at high pulse energy levels, a gradual bleaching of the saturable absorber is observed.

Passively Q-switched Nd:YVO_4 laser with a Cr^4+:YAG crystal saturable absorber

“…Spatial hole burning could be an important factor for this phenomenon. 8 In addition, the corresponding conversion efficiency for energy increased ͑the slope efficiency was 28.8%͒ as shown in Fig. 4.…”

Diode Pumped High Peak Power Quasi Q-Switched and Passively Q-Switched Nd:YVO<sub>4</sub> Lasers at 1064 nm and 532 nm using Cr:YAG and KTP crystals

“…It is useful for making green laser which used in many different applications like LIDAR, medical applications, detect [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31].…”

“…Exploring the properties of Nd:YVO 4 lasers has become very common in the scientific literature in the last decade [6][7][8]. One important direction popular was related to Q-switching of Nd:YVO 4 and microchip lasers [9][10][11][12]. In general, Q-switching is an effect in which pulses of light appear at the output of the laser while continuous pumping is applied.…”

Self Q-switching effect in a <inline-formula><math altimg="none" display="inline" overflow="scroll"><mrow><mi>Nd</mi><mo>:</mo><msub><mi>YVO</mi><mn>4</mn></msub><mo>∕</mo><mi>KTP</mi></mrow></math></inline-formula> lasing unit

“…One important direction that is very popular is related to Q-switching of Nd: YVO 4 and microchip lasers. [5][6][7][8] Generally speaking, Q-switching is an effect in which pulses of light appear at the output of the laser while continuous pumping is applied. Such an effect is obtained by insertion of time-dependent losses into the cavity or by varying the transmission coefficient of the mirrors, which can be done in an active manner ͑electro-optical modulators͒ or passively.…”