Stable mode-locking in an Yb:YAG laser with a fast SESAM

Stable mode-locking in a diode-pumped Yb:YAG laser was obtained with a very fast semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The pulse width was measured to be 4 ps at the central wavelength of 1047 nm. The average power was 200 mW and the repetition rate was 200 MHz.

Near-diffraction-limited, 35.4 W laser-diode end-pumped Nd:YVO4 slab laser operating at 1342 nm

A diode stack end-pumped Nd:YVO4 slab laser at 1342 nm with near-diffraction-limited beam quality by using a hybrid resonator was presented. At a pump power of 139.5 W, laser power of 35.4 W was obtained with a conversion efficiency of 25.4% of the laser diode to laser output. The beam quality M-2 factors were measured to be 1.2 in the unstable direction and 1.3 in the stable direction at the output power of 29 W. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Laser diode array side-pumped acousto-optic induced unidirectional operation Q-switched Nd : YAG slab ring laser

A laser-diode array (LDA) side-pumped Nd:YAG slab ring laser is described that incorporates a prism-shaped acousto-optic modulator to enforce unidirectional operation and Q-switching. When pumped by the maximum power of 50 W, Q-switched energies of 3.6 mJ and 50 ns duration, corresponding to a peak power of 72 kW, are obtained. (C) 1999 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [S0091-3286(99)01306-9].

5.5W CWYb3+ : Y2O3 ceramic laser pumped with 970 nm laser diode

CW laser output has been demonstrated for polycrystalline transparent 10 at.% Yb3+-doped Y2O3 ceramics. End-pumped with 970 nm laser diode, a maximum output power of 5.5 W has been obtained with absorbed pump power of 31.1 W. The slope efficiency is 25% while the threshold pump power is 5.6 W. Saturation is not observed in our experiments, indicating higher laser output can be expected with higher pump power. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Highly efficient diode side-pumped Nd : YAG ceramic laser with 210W output power

We developed a highly efficient diode side-pumped Nd:YAG ceramic laser with a diffusive reflector as an optical pump cavity. A maximum output power of 211.6W was obtained with an optical -to- optical conversion efficiency of 48.7%. This corresponds to the highest conversion efficiency in the side-pumped ceramic rod. Thermal effects of the Nd:YAG ceramic rod were analyzed in detail through the measurements of laser output powers and beam profiles near the critically unstable region. A M-2 beam quality factor of 18.7 was obtained at the maximum laser output power. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Room-temperature cw and pulsed operation of a diode-end-pumped Tm:YAP laser

We report the continuous-wave and acousto-optical Q-switched operation of a diode-end-pumped Tm:YAP laser. Continuous-wave output power of 3.5 W at 1.99 mu m was obtained under the absorbed pump power of 14 W. Under Q-switched laser operation, the average output power increased from 1.57 W to 2.0 W, with an absorbed pump power of 12.6 W, as the repetition rate increased from 1 kHz to 10 kHz. The maximum Q-switched pulse energy was 1.57 mJ with a repetition rate of 1 kHz. The minimum pulse width was measured to be about 80 ns, corresponding to a peak power of 19.6 kW.

Continuous-wave and passively mode-locked Yb : GYSO lasers pumped by diode lasers

We report both continuous-wave and passively mode-locked laser actions in a Yb3+-doped gadolinium yttrium oxyorthosilicate Yb:GdySiO(5) (Yb:GYSO) crystal. Continuous-wave (CW) laser operations were compared under different pump conditions with high-power diodes of different wavelengths and fiber cores. CW mode-locking was obtained with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.

A Diode-Side-Pumped Dynamic Fundamental Mode Nd:YAG Laser

A fundamental mode Nd YAG laser is experimentally demonstrated with a stagger pumped laser module and a special resonator. The rod is pumped symmetrically by staggered bar modules. A dynamic fundamental mode is achieved with the special resonator under different pump levels. A maximal continuous wave output of 61 W (M-2 = 1.4) is achieved with a single rod. An average output of 47 W, pulse width of 54 ns, pulse energy of 4.7 mJ and peak power of 87 kW are obtained under the Q-switched operation of 10 kHz.

A passively mode-locked diode-end-pumped Nd : YAG laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition

We report the experimental results of a mode-locked diode-end-pumped Nd:YAG laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) from which we achieved a 10 ps pulse duration at 150 MHz repetition rate. The SESAM was grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition at low temperature. The recovery time was measured to be 0.5 ps, indicating the potential pulse compression to sub-picoseconds.

Passive mode locking of a diode-end-pumped Nd : GdVO4 laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We report an end-pumped and passive mode-locking all-solid-state laser. The laser consists of a Nd:GdVO4 crystal and a linear resonator with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror that yield mode locking. We achieved stable continuous-wave mode locking with an 8-ps pulse duration at a 154-MHz repetition rate. The average output power was 600 mW with 4 W of pump power. To our knowledge this is the first report of the use of a Nd:GdVO4 crystal for mode locking with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.

Comparative studies of semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locking dynamics in pulsed diode-end-pumped picosecond Nd:GdVO4 and Nd:YAG lasers

Ultrashort pulses were generated in passively mode-locked Nd:YAG and Nd:GdVO4 lasers pumped by a pulsed laser diode with 10-Hz repetition rate. Stable mode-locked pulse trains were produced with the pulse width of 10 ps. The evolution of the mode-locked pulse was observed in the experiment and was discussed in detail. Comparing the pulse evolutions of Nd:YAG and Nd:GdVO4 lasers, we found that the buildup time of the steady-state mode-locking with semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) was relevant to the upper-state lifetime and the emission cross-section of the gain medium.