Laser Diode-Pumped Nd：LuVO4 Acousto-Optic Q-Switched Laser at 916 nm

A compact laser diode-pumped solid-state Nd：LuVO4 acousto-optic Q-switched laser is demonstrated at 916 nm of a quasi-three level for the first time. A pulse width of 130ns is observed when the pulse-repetition frequency is 10 kHz. The laser experiment shows that the Nd：Lu VO4 crystal can be used for efficient diode-pumped Q-switched lasers.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF DIODE-PUMPED DOUBLE-CLAD Tm-Ho DOPED FLUORIDE LASERS

Numerical simulation is described which estimates the performance of thulium sensitized holmium doped CW fluoride fiber laser at 2.04 μm for both core and cladding pumped. This model takes into account the mechanisms of cross relaxation and energy transfer to describe the laser operation. A subroutine program for calculating the absorption rate of cladding pumped scheme is included in the model. The losses of signal and pump light along the fiber have been taken into account. The test of cladding pumped scheme program shows good agreement with the experimental result. The experimental results of core pumping Tm Ho doped fiber laser in fluoride host are compared with the present model, and shows a good agreement with calculations. This model also provides data of the optimum parameters for the configuration of the efficient cladding pumped Tm Ho fluoride laser systems.

A Laser-Diode-Pumped Nd:YAG Laser Q-Switched with a YAG Color Center Chip

A laser-diode-pumped Nd: YAG laser Q-switched Passively with a YAG colorcenter chip has been deveolped. The Q-switched pulse output has a duration of 25-70ns,an energy of about 7.9 μJ and a repetition frequency of 1.25-5.0kHz when the laser cavityparameters and pump power are changed. The Q-switched dynamics is analyzed with therate equation theorry. The theoretical and experimental results agree well.

Continuous-Wave and Actively Q-Switched Diode-Pumped Er:LuAG Ring Laser at 1650 nm

We demonstrate a cw and actively Q-switched Er：LuAO laser resonantly dual-end-pumped by 1532nm fibre- coupled laser diodes. A maximum cw output power of 1.9W at 1650.3nm is obtained at a pump power of 25.5 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 43.3 %. In the Q-switched regime, the maximum pulse energy of 3.51 mJ is reached at a pulse repetition rate of 100 Hz, a pulse duration of 90.5ns and a pump power of 25.5 W. At the repetition rate of 400 Hz, the output energy is 2.12m J, corresponding to a pulse duration of 125.4 ns.

Diode-Pumped Passively Mode-Locked 1079 nm Nd:CaGdAlO_4 Laser

We demonstrate a diode-pumped passively cw mode-locked Nd：CaGdAlO4 laser operating at 1079nm with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The threshold pump power of the laser is 180mW. A maximum average output power of 93mW is obtained under the pump power of 1.94 W. The pulse duration of the mode-locked pulses is 3.1ps and the repetition rate is 157MHz.

High power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO_4 laser at repetition rate of 3.2 GHz

A compact high power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO_4 laser with high repetition rate is realized.Using an Nd:YVO_4 crystal and a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror(SESAM) in the oscillator, the picosecond pulse output with an average power of 1.38 W, a repetition rate of 3.24 GHz, and a pulse duration of 11.4 ps is achieved. After one stage of amplification, the final output power reaches 11.34 W, corresponding to a total optical-to-optical efficiency of about 32%. The root mean square(RMS) value of power fluctuation is demonstrated to be less than 0.6% in 24 hours,showing a superior stability with the compact configuration.

A 4.8-W M^2 = 4.6 Continuous-Wave Intracavity Sum-Frequency Diode-Pumped Solid-State Yellow Laser

A yellow continuous wave with beam quality M^2= 4.6 and output power of 4.8 W at 589nm is generated by intracavity sum-frequency mixing of 1064 nm and 1319 nm radiations of a Nd：YAG laser. To achieve high beam quality at high power, thermally near-unstable flat-flat resonators with two-rod birefringence compensation are designed to obtain the large fundamental mode size inside the Nd：YAG rods and the same beam width inside the KTP crystal. The optimal intracavity power ratio of both 1064nm and 1319nm beams is also considered. The output power fluctuation of the yellow laser remains less than 5% in four hours.

Diode-pumped wavelength-switchable visible Pr^(3+):YLF laser and vortex laser around 670 nm

Here we developed a novel wavelength-switchable visible continuous-wave(CW)Pr^(3+):YLF laser around 670 nm.In single-wavelength laser operations,the maximum output powers of 2.60 W,1.26 W,and 0.21 W,the maximum slope efficiencies of 34.7%,27.3%,and 12.3%were achieved with good beam qualities(M^(2)<1.6)at 670.4 nm,674.2 nm,and 678.9 nm,respectively.Record-high output power(2.6 W)and record-high slope efficiency(34.7%)were achieved for the Pr^(3+):YLF laser operation at 670.4 nm.This is also the first demonstration of longer-wavelength peaks beyond 670 nm in the^(3)P_(1)→^(3)F_(3)transition of Pr^(3+):YLF.In multi-wavelength laser operations,the dual-wavelength lasings,including 670.1/674.8 nm,670.1/679.1 nm,and 675.0/679.4 nm,were obtained by fine adjustment of one/two etalons within the cavity.Furthermore,the triple-wavelength lasings,e.g.672.2/674.2/678.6 nm and 670.4/674.8/679.4 nm,were successfully demonstrated.Moreover,both the first-order vortex lasers(LG_(0)^(+1)and LG_(0)^(-1)modes)at 670.4 nm were obtained by off-axis pumping.

A high-power high-stability Q-switched green laser with intracavity frequency doubling using a diode-pumped composite ceramic Nd:YAG laser

We successfully obtain a high-average-power high-stability Q-switched green laser based on diode-side-pumped composite ceramic Nd：YAG in a straight piano-concave cavity. The temperature distribution in composite ceramic Nd：YAG crystal is numerically analyzed and compared with that of conventional Nd：YAG crystal. By using a composite ceramic Nd：YAG rod and a type-II high gray track resistance KTP （HGTR-KTP） crystal, a green laser with an average output power of 165 W is obtained at a repetition rate of 25 kHz, with a diode-to-green optical conversion of 14.68%, and a pulse width of 162 ns. To the best of our knowledge, both the output power and optical-to-optical efficiency are the highest values for green laser systems with intracavity frequency doubling of this novel composite ceramic Nd：YAG laser to date. The power fluctuation at around 160 W is lower than 0.3% in 2.5 hours.

Compact Diode-Pumped Continuous-Wave Nd：LuVO4 Lasers Operated at 916 nm and 458 nm

We report the compact diode-pumped continuous-wave （CW） Nd：LuV04 lasers operated at 916nm and 458nm for the first time. The maximum output power of 780mW at 916nm laser is obtained with a slope efficiency of 9.3%. We generate 50roW of 458nm blue laser employing a type-Ⅰ critical phase-matched LBO crystal.

High power high beam quality diode-pumped 1319-nm Nd:YAG oscillator-amplifier laser system

This paper demonstrated a high power and high beam quality diode-pumped 1319-nm Nd：YAG master oscillator-power amplifier laser system. A thermally near-unstable resonator with four-rod birefringence compensation fiat-fiat cavity was adopted as the master oscillator. A solid etalon was inserted in the unidirectional ring resonator to compress the laser linewidth. Under a repetition rate of 500 Hz and pulse width of 160 μs, the master oscillator delivers an average output power of 16.8 W at 1319 nm with linear polarisation, beam quality factor M^2=1.16 and linewidth of 3.2 GHz. A double-pass power amplifier with two amplifier stages was employed for higher power scaling and the output power was amplified to be 25.9 W with M^2 = 1.43.

Highly efficient continuous-wave laser operation of laser diode-pumped Nd,Y:CaF_2 crystals

The effect of co-doping Y3＋ and the doping concentration of Nd3＋ on the spectroscopic properties and laser performance of Nd：CaF2 crystals are investigated systematically. For a 0.5% Nd：CaF2 crystal, the emission life- time at 1.06 μm increases from 18 to 361 μs by co-doping 10 at.% Y3＋, while the emission cross section increases to 4.27 × 10^-20 cm2 at 1054 nm. With a 10 at.% doping concentration of Y3＋, Nd, Y：CaF2 crystals concentrate emission bands that peak at 1054 nm with shoulders at 1063 nm, and FWHM at about 30 nm. A diode-pumped, highly efficient laser operation is obtained with 0.5% Nd, 1070 Y：CaF2 and 0.6% Nd, 1070 Y：CaF2 crystals, with slope efficiencies over 30% and 27%, respectively, and a maximum output power up to 901 mW.

A Kilowatt Diode-Pumped Solid-State Heat-Capacity Double-Slab Laser

A kilowatt diode-pumped solid state heat capacity laser is fabricated with a double-slab Nd：YAG. Using the theoretical model of heat capacity laser output laser characteristics, the relationships between the output power, temperature and time are obtained. The slab is 59 × 40×4.5mm^3 in size. The average pump power is 11.2kW, the repetition rate is i kHz, and the duty cycle is 20%. During the running time of i s, the output energy of the laser has a fluctuation with the maximal output energy at 2.06 J, and the maximal output average power is 2.06kW. At the end of the second, the output energy declines to about 50% compared to the beginning. The therma/effects can be improved with one slab cooled by water. The experimental results are consistent with the calculation data.

Room Temperature Diode-Pumped Tunable Single-Frequency Tm:YAG Ceramic Laser

A single-longitudinal-mode(SLM)Tm:YAG ceramic laser under room temperature conditions using double Fabry-Pérot etalons is investigated.The maximum single-frequency output power is 318 mW with a slope efficiency of 12.6%.The wavelength tuning range from 2005 nm to 2029 nm is achieved by tuning the obliquity of a 0.1-mm-thick etalon.The single frequency laser has a beam quality of M^(2)=1.3 at the maximum single-frequency output power.The result is reported for the first time to the best of our knowledge.This SLM Tm:YAG ceramic laser can replace the Tm:YAG single crystal laser to be used as the seed laser for LIDAR laser systems.

Diode-pumped laser performance of Tm:Sc2SiO5 crystal at 1971 nm

The 4-at.% Tm：Sc_2SiO_5 （Tm：SSO） crystal is successfully obtained by the Czochralski method. The optical properties and thermal conductivity of the crystal are investigated. The broad continuous wave（CW） laser output of（100）-cut Tm：SSO with the dimensions of 3 mm×3 mm×3 mm under laser diode（LD）-pumping is realized. The full width at half maximum（FWHM） of the laser emitting reaches up to 21 nm. The laser threshold of Tm：SSO is measured to be 0.43 W. Efficient diode-pumped CW laser performance of Tm：SSO is demonstrated with a slope efficiency of 25.9% and maximum output power of 934 mW.

Laser-Diode-Pumped Nd:YAP Single Crystal Fiber Laser

We have developed a Nd:YAP single crystal Aber laser with linearly polarised light output at 1.0795μm.The laser is 100μm in diameter and operated with a threshold of 6.65mW.The slope efficiency is 12.9%.

A 54-fs diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:LuYSiO_(5) laser

We demonstrate a Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:Lu YSiO_(5)(Yb:LYSO)laser with the pulse duration of 54 fs,corresponding to a spectral bandwidth of 25 nm centered at 1062 nm.To the best of our knowledge,this is the shortest pulse duration obtained from Yb:LYSO laser.At the repetition rate of 378.3 MHz,an output power of 111.6 m W is obtained using an output coupler with 0.6%transmittance,which can maintain long-time stable mode-locking more than 13 h.

Temperature-Dependent Fluorescence Properties and Diode-Pumped Deep Red Laser Performance of Pr:LiGdF4 Crystal

We demonstrate the temperature-dependent fluorescence properties of Pr：LiGdF4 crystal tor the first time, to the best of our knowledge, and its blue diode pumped cw red laser at 720 nm at room temperature. The fluorescence lifetime and polarized emission cross sections in the visible range are measured and calculated in a temperature range from 77K to 300 K, and the variations of the fluorescence lifetime and spectra are discovered. The reasons for these changes are explained accordingly. The output wavelength of the 720nm laser is first reported on the laser performance by using a fiber-coupled laser diode at the wavelength of 442nm as the pump source, and the maximum cw output power is about 303roW.

Diode-Pumped Passive Q-Switched 946 nm Nd：YAG Laser with a GaAs Saturable Absorber

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, a diode-pumped passive Q-switched 946nm Nd：YAG laser by using a GaAs as saturable absorber. The maximum average output power is 1.24 W at an incident pump power of 15 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 10%. Laser pulses with pulse duration of 70ns and repetition rate of 330 kHz are generated.

Diode-pumped tunable laser with dual Cr：LiSAF rods

We propose and demonstrate a simple approach to lower the thermal quenching effect and improve the output power of Cr：LiSAF lasers, which is accomplished by employing two laser rods. The resonator contains two laser rods and is designed by using two ＂X＂ folding cavities in cascade. A tunable laser output of ～ 180 mW has been achieved with the pump of single-striped laser diodes. Compared with lasers using single gain rod, the laser with dual rods shows less severe thermal effect and increases the output by more than two times.