Acousto-optic-modulator-stabilized low-threshold mode-locked Nd:YVO_4 laser

摘要

A substantially low-threshold, kilohertz repetition rate and laser-diode-array pumped Nd;YVO_4 laser, actively Q switched by an acousto-optic modulator and passively mode locked by a nonlinear mirror consisting of a KTiOPO_4, second harmonic generating crystal, and a dichroic output coupler, is demonstrated with enhanced efficiency. The mode-locked pulses with a width of 11.5 ps lie underneath a Q-switched envelope having a width of 58 ns with a Q-switched modulation frequency of 40 kHz. For 10 W of pump power, a peak power of 719 kW is obtained under stable Q-switched and mode-locked operation, which is a marked improvement compared to the earlier reports.