High-power gain-switched Ho:LuAG rod laser

✍ Scribed by Y.L. Tang; L. Xu; M.J. Wang; Y. Yang; X.D. Xu; J.Q. Xu

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 95 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1612-2011
• DOI: 10.1002/lapl.201010111

✦ Synopsis

Resonantly gain-switched by a 1.9-μm Tm:YLF crystal laser, over 11 W ∼ 2.1-μm laser output has been achieved from a Ho:LuAG rod laser with a slop efficiency of 83% with respect to absorbed pump power. The high quantum efficiency (∼ 92%) was attributed to the compact cavity configuration, excellent mode overlap between the pump and laser beam, and efficient crystal cooling. Near the highest output level, the laser wavelength was centered at 2130 and 2101 nm, with the T = 8% and T = 20% output couplers, respectively. At 10-W power level, the laser beam quality was measured to be M 2 ∼ 1.02. The narrowest pulse width achieved was 20 ns and maximum pulse energy was over 4 mJ (2 kHz).