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.

Comparative study of the mode-locking of Nd:GdVO4 and Nd:YAG lasers with semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors

Stable continuous-wave passive mode-locking of diode-end-pumped Nd:GdVO4 and Nd:YAG lasers withsemiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) are reported. The comparative study shows that theNd:GdVO4 crystal is efficient to decrease the Q-switched mode-locking tendency, and easier to continuous-wave (CW) mode lock than Nd:YAG.

Design of side-pumped Nd : YAG lasers

Design of the typical laser diode side-pumped Nd:YAG rod system has been discussed using the conventional ray tracing method in this paper. Firstly introduce two basic matrices, refractional and translational matrix, described the transmission of nonparaxial light ray in the medium without concerning the absorption of light. And then, using those matrices, analyze the distribution of pump light in the crystal respectively under the condition of directly pumped system and indirectly pumped system with a cylindrical quartz rod as focusing lens. From the result of simulation, we compare the advantage and disadvantage of the two pumped method, and mainly consider how to select the diameter of the focus lens and cooling tube, indicate the effect of deionized water and cooling tube have on the pump light distribution in the active material. At last, make some conclusions about the side-pumped Nd:YAG laser system.

拱形激光二极管侧抽运Nd∶YAG固体激光器的实验研究

详细阐述了同心抽运、同心冷却的激光二极管紧包侧抽运Nd：YAG激光器的实验研究工作。这种抽运结构使晶体内的增益场与谐振腔基模实现了良好的匹配，易于得到良好的光束质量和大能量输出，基模提取效率高。模拟分析了晶体内的增益场以及横截面内的温度分布，从不同角度探讨了激光二极管的温度特性对器件工作的影响。研究了晶体的热致退偏效应对器件调Q工作的影响．并且初步探讨了不同腔长、不同腔型下器件的工作情况，这些实验结果对进一步优化使用这种抽运结构有指导意义。所设计的激光器在工作频率6Hz时．得到了斜效率为44．3％的多模调

High-energy LDA switched side-pumped electro-optical Q-switched Nd : YAG ceramic laser

By employing a uniformly compact side-pumping system, a high-energy electro-optical Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser has been demonstrated. With 420 W quasi-cw laser-diode-array pumping at 808 ran and a 100 Hz modulating repetition rate, 50 mJ output energy at 1064 nm was obtained with 10 ns pulse width, 5 W average output power, and 5 MW peak power. Its corresponding slope efficiency was 29.8%. The laser system operated quite stably and no saturation phenomena have been observed, which means higher output energy could be expected. Laser parameters between ceramic and single-crystal Nd:YAG lasers have been compared, and pulse characteristics of Nd:YAG ceramic with different repetition rate have been investigated in detail. The still-evolving Nd:YAG ceramics are potential super excellent media for high-energy laser applications. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America.

LD 侧面抽运Nd :YAG陶瓷激光器运转条件下归一化热参数优化理论及实验研究

The suppressing effect of laser extraction on the non-radiation transition process is taken into account when the heat model of gain media is developed. Based on the developed heat model, the heat generation in the operating LD side-pumped Nd: YAG ceramic lasers is quantified through using the normalized heating parameter, which can be deduced from the experimental results of the slope efficiency and the absorbed pumping power of the gain media. The main factors which influence on the heat generation are investigated by studying the normalized heating parameter, and the results show that the changes of the laser extraction efficiency, the beam overlap efficiency and the Nd3+ concentration will result in obvious variations of the normalized heating parameter. In this work, the laser extraction efficiency increases to 0.905 by the optimization of the transmission of the output coupling, and the normalized heating parameter decrease to 0.474, correspondingly.

钛宝石激光器端面抽运Nd：YAG陶瓷激光器热沉积理论和实验研究

通过热沉积系数研究在激光提取条件下掺杂原子分数为1.0%的Nd：YAG陶瓷激光器中热沉积问题.热沉积系数定义为热沉积功率与激光器输出功率之比.在理论分析基础上,通过测量激光器斜率效率来间接测定热沉积系数,实验测定的热沉积系数值为0.63.建立激光提取条件下Nd：YAG陶瓷发热模型,讨论了影响热沉积系数的主要因素.结果表明：热沉积系数对Nd：YAG陶瓷的辐射量子效率、交叠效率以及激光提取效率的变化非常敏感.为有效减少介质内热沉积,在激光器优化设计中交叠效率和激光提取效率是需要着重考虑的参数.所得结果可为进一

激光二极管侧面抽运调Q倍频Nd:YAG激光器

对高平均功率输出的激光二极管侧面抽运电光调Q倍频 Nd:YAG激光器进行了研究，当采用90个60W的脉冲激光二极管阵列抽运时，在重复频率为10Hz下，实现了最大平均功率为1180mW的1064nm红外激光输出，光-光转换效率为11%。腔外倍频获得600mW的532nm绿光输出，倍频效率达到50%以上。

位相锁定来自同一侧面抽运Nd：YAG板条的两束激光

实验研究了腔内位相锁定来至一LAD侧面抽运的Nd：YAG板条的两束激光，输出镜面出现干涉条纹，获得1.13W的相干光，其组束效率达到64.9%，相干度约60%。实验中发现只需要一根作为滤波的金属丝放在离输出镜合适的位置都就能有效稳定干涉条纹，金属丝引起的损耗低于8%。

侧面抽运国产Nd∶YAG陶瓷棒的激光特性

实验研究了激光二极管阵列(LDA)侧向抽运国产Nd∶YAG陶瓷棒的准连续及被动调Q激光输出特性。该陶瓷激光器采用LDA侧面紧密环绕均匀排布的抽运结构,陶瓷棒抽运区域长度为20 mm,其总尺寸为3 mm×35 mm,掺杂原子数分数为~1%。在千赫兹准连续运转条件下,当平-平谐振腔的输出耦合镜透过率为47.3%时,获得最大平均功率23 W的1064 nm激光输出,光束发散角为4.5 mrad,斜率效率达12%。在谐振腔内插入Cr4+∶YAG晶体作为被动调Q开关,成功地实现了陶瓷激光器千赫兹重复频率调Q激光脉冲输出,当Cr4+∶YAG晶体初始透过率为60%时,输出激光脉冲宽度(半峰全宽)可窄至14.5 ns,调Q动静比约为40%。

边缘泵浦被动调Q的Nd：YAG薄片激光器

文中报道了一台采用激光二极管部分边缘泵浦方式的高功率薄片激光器，晶体尺寸是1 mm×10 mm×60 mm。Cr4+：YAG被用来作为被动调Q晶体，在重复频率高于10kHz时，获得了脉宽10ns，平均功率70W，斜线效率为36\%的激光输出。通过控制泵浦光束直径的大小，我们在厚度方向得到了近似衍射极限的光束输出。整个激光器结构紧凑，大小为60 mm×174 mm×150 mm。

Experimental study of Ti : sapphire laser end-pumped Nd : YAG ceramic laser Q-switched by Cr4+: YAG saturable absorber

By employing a continuous-wave (CW) Ti:sapphire tunable laser as a pumping source and a Cr4+:YAG single crystal as the saturable absorber (SA), a passively Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser has been demonstrated at room temperature. With an absorbed pumping power of 541 mW at 808 nm, an average output power of 61 mW at 1064 nm has been obtained with 3.5 mu J pulse energy, 15 ns pulse width and 18.18 kHz repetition rate, and the corresponding slope-efficiency is 15%. The relationships between the pulse width, repetition rate, average output power, pulse energy, and peak power on the absorbed pumping power for different initial transmission of the Cr4+:YAG SA are discussed separately. The Nd:YAG ceramic is one of the most promising laser materials for compact, efficient, all-solid-state pulsed lasers.

The analysis of the transient temperature distribution of double-slab Nd:YAG laser medium

A novel double-slab Nd:YAG laser, which uses face-pumped slab medium cooled by liquid with different temperatures on both sides, is proposed. The thermal distortion of wavefront caused by the non-uniform temperature distribution in the laser gain media can be self-compensated. According to the method of operation, the models of the temperature distribution and stress are presented, and the analytic solutions for the model are derived. Furthermore, the numerical simulations with pulse pumping energy of 10 J and repetition frequencies of 500 and 1000 Hz are calculated respectively for Nd:YAG laser medium. The simulation results show that the temperature gradient remains the approximative linearity, and the heat stress is within the extreme range. Then the absorption coefficient is also discussed. The result indicates that the doping concentration cannot be too large for the high repetition frequency laser. It has been proved that the high repetition frequency, high laser beam quality, and high average output power of the order of kilowatt of Nd: YAG slab laser can be achieved in this structure.

Highly efficient Nd:YAG ceramic CW laser with 59.8% slope-efficiency

In this paper, a highly efficient Ti:sapphire end-pumped 1 at.-% Nd:YAG ceramic laser that is comparable in efficiency with Nd:YAG single crystal lasers has been developed. Optical absorption and emission spectra for Nd:YAG ceramics have been measured. With 673-mW pumping, 295-mW laser output at 1064 nm has been obtained. The laser threshold is only 13 mW. Deducted the transmitted light, the corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is 58.4%. The lasing characteristics of Nd:YAG ceramic are nearly equal to those of Nd:YAG single crystal.

High-power Nd:YAG planar waveguide laser with YAG and Al2O3 claddings

Thermal effects in Nd:YAG planar waveguide lasers with non-symmetrical claddings are discussed. The heat generated in the active core can be removed more efficiently by directly contacting the active core to the heat sink. Several cladding materials are compared to optimize the heat removal. Furthermore, uniform pumping is achieved with oblique edge-pumping technique. Using quasi-CW pumping at 1 KHz repetition rate, an average output power of 280 W with a slope efficiency of 38% is obtained with a positive unstable resonator. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.