title: Ho:CaF(2) solid-state saturable-absorber Q switch for the 2-µm Tm,Cr:Y(3)Al(5)O(12) laser.
abstract: The holmium-doped calcium fluoride (Ho:CaF(2)) crystal was shown to be an effective solid-state saturable-absorber Q-switch for a flash-lamp-pumped Tm,Cr:Y(3)Al(5)O(12) laser at 2.017 µm. With a 1-cm-thick Ho(0.5%),Er(5%):CaP(2) saturable absorber and a 6.3% output coupler, a single Q-switched laser pulse of 51 mJ in energy and 60 ns in duration was obtained at a flash-lamp input energy of 85 J. With a 14.6% output coupler, a typical Q-switched laser pulse of 84 mJ and 82 ns was observed.
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Birnbaum
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Unlu
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Huang