Pulse compression in an electro-optic Q-switched diode-pumped YVO4/Nd:YVO4 laser with a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber.
A diode end-pumped doubly Q-switched YVO4/Nd:YVO4 laser has been realized for the first time to our knowledge by using both an electro-optic (EO) modulator and a Cr4):YAG saturable absorber. A 3.8 ns pulse width is generated by this laser under a pump power of 15 W at 2 kHz, which is obviously compressed in comparison with that of 8.8 ns from a single actively EO Q-switched laser. Under the same conditions, peak power values of 174.7 and 93 kW are also obtained. A coupled equation is given to theoretically analyze the experimental data. The experimental and theoretical results show that the doubly Q-switched laser has the advantages of a shorter pulse width and higher pulse peak power in contrast with a singly Q-switched laser.
Li
Tao
T
School of Information Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China. shengzhi_zhao@sdu.edu.cn
Zhao
Shengzhi
S
Zhuo
Zhuang
Z
Yang
Kejian
K
Li
Guiqiu
G
Li
Dechun
D
D004581:Electronics; D007834:Lasers; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D011312:Pressure