title: High efficiency, linearly polarized, directly diode-pumped Er:YAG laser at 1617  nm.
abstract: An efficient, directly diode-pumped Er:YAG laser at 1617 nm was demonstrated. A folding mirror with high reflectivity for the s-polarized light at the laser wavelength was used to achieve a linearly polarized laser. A maximum continuous-wave output power of 7.73 W was yielded under incident pump power of 50.57 W, and the optical conversion efficiency with respect to incident pump power was ∼15.28%, which was the highest optical conversion efficiency with directly diode-pumped Er:YAG lasers up to now; in Q-switched operation, the maximum pulse energy of 7.82 mJ was generated with pulse duration of about 80 ns at a pulse repetition frequency of 500 Hz.
authors.forename: Zhenzhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Mingjian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Weibiao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D004735:Energy Transfer; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D007909:Lenses; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*