Subharmonic mode locking of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

Abstract

A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser has been actively mode-locked at a subharmonic frequency for the first time, to the authors' knowledge. The laser operation mode is provided by a combination of a traveling wave acousto-optic modulator and a spherical cavity mirror. The dynamics of laser generation is investigated. Pulses with a duration of 70 ps and a peak power of about 10 MW were obtained. Also presented are new results on obtaining high-power (∼60 kW) picosecond tunable radiation in the ∼620 nm region based on frequency conversion of a superluminescent parametric generator pumped by such a laser.