Modeling of a CW Nd: YVO_4 laser longitudinally pumped by high power VCSEL modules at 808 nm

摘要

In this work longitudinal pumping of a continuous wave (CW) Nd:YVO_4 laser by high power VCSEL modules was numerically studied. Two VCSEL pump modules (6 W and 15 W) were compared. The maximum output power from a Nd:YVO_4 crystal using these pump modules was calculated to be 2.5 W and 6 W, respectively, using a 10 % output coupler. The slope and optical-to-optical efficiencies in both cases were around 47% and 40%, respectively. The performance of Nd:YVO_4 crystal was found to be better than that of Nd:YAG crystal. Our numerical results indicate that VCSELs can serve as efficient pump sources for the end-pumped CW Nd:YVO_4 lasers.