title: Resonantly diode-pumped continuous-wave and Q-switched Er:YAG laser at 1645 nm.
abstract: We describe an efficient Er:YAG laser that is resonantly pumped using continuous-wave (CW) laser diodes at 1470 nm. For CW lasing, it emits 6.1 W at 1645 nm with a slope efficiency of 36%, the highest efficiency reported for an Er:YAG laser that is pumped in this manner. In Q-switched operation, the laser produces diffraction-limited pulses with an average power of 2.5 W at 2 kHz PRF. To our knowledge this is the first Q-switched Er:YAG laser resonantly pumped by CW laser diodes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Institute for Photonics & Advanced Sensing, The University of Adelaide, SA, Australia. nick.chang@adelaide.edu.au
authors.forename: N W H
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Simakov
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hosken
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Munch
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Ottaway
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Veitch
mesh_terms: D007259:Infrared Rays; D054023:Lasers, Semiconductor; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*