Continuous Wave (CW) and Passively Q-switched Performance of a Diode-pumped Nd:YAG Ceramic Laser at 1112 nm

摘要

We report a continuous wave (CW) and passive Q-switching operation of a Nd:YAG ceramic laser at 1112 nm by using a concave-plane cavity, which has not been found in the previous literature but of great potential. A maximum output power of 1.36 W was obtained at the pumped power of 11.30 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 12.0% and a slope efficiency of 15.1%. We inserted the Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber with initial transmission of 80.0% into the cavity and the maximum average output power of 713 mW was realized at the pumped power of 11.20 W, the minimum pulse width is 8 ns with the pulse repetition rate of 10.8 KHz, corresponding to the signal pulse energy and the maximum peak power of 66 mu J and 8.25 kW, respectively. These unique strengths of Nd: YAG ceramic laser at 1112 nm thereby open up new opportunities in light source to integrated optical processing.