title: Reduction of timing jitter in a Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser by direct bleaching of a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber.
abstract: A method for optical triggering of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser by direct bleaching of a Cr:YAG saturable absorber is described. This method involves the bleaching of a thin sheet of the saturable absorber from a direction orthogonal to the lasing axis using a single laser diode bar, where the Cr:YAG transmission increased from a non-bleached value of 47% to a bleached value of 63%. For steady state operation of a passively Q-switched laser (PRF=10 Hz), the pulse-to-pulse timing jitter showed approximately 12X reduction in standard deviation, from 241 nsec for free running operation to 20 nsec with optical triggering.
authors.affiliation: US Army RDECOM CERDEC, Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate, Ft. Belvoir, VA 22060, USA. info@nvl.army.mil
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Lew
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: C Ward
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Trussell
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.forename: Bradley W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Schilling
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McIntosh