Passively Q‐switched operation of Yb,Ho:LuVO₄ laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors

Abstract

A continuous-wave (CW) and passively Q-switched (PQS) Yb,Ho:LuVO 4 laser pumped by a 978.6-nm laser diode (LD) is demonstrated. The maximum output power of 131 mW at 2059.78 nm in CW regime is achieved with a pump power of 3.01 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 10.74%. Under PQS mode operation, an average output power of 45 mW and a shortest pulse width of 100 ns were acquired by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors, and for all we know, this is the first report about the PQS Yb,Ho:LuVO 4 laser. In addition, a maximum energy per pulse of 12.6 nJ with a pulse repetition frequency of 7.692 MHz was obtained, corresponding to a peak power of 58.5 mW. The beam quality factor was measured to be M x 2 = 1.10 and M y 2 = 1.10 from the PQS Yb,Ho:LuVO 4 laser.

Q‐switched Nd:YVO4 laser with TiS2 saturable absorber

“…The stability, damage threshold, modulation depth, and modulation bandwidth are vital properties of SAs. Many kinds of materials have been used in lasers as the SAs, but the disadvantages of these materials are clear: dye, LiF:F 2 − , Cr 4+ :YAG, and SESAM show lower stability and narrower modulation bandwidth 2–8 . Carbon nanotubes could not be used as a broadband SA due to the fixed diameter 9–11 .…”

“…Many kinds of materials have been used in lasers as the SAs, but the disadvantages of these materials are clear: dye, LiF:F 2 − , Cr 4+ :YAG, and SESAM show lower stability and narrower modulation bandwidth. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Carbon nanotubes could not be used as a broadband SA due to the fixed diameter. [9][10][11] The modulation depth of graphene is not high.…”