Passive Q-switching of a diode-pumped 1520 nm Er:Yb:YAl_3(BO_3)_4 micro-laser with a Co~(2+):Mg_(0.4)Al_(2.4)O_4 saturable absorber

摘要

Using an Er:Yb:YAl_3(BO_3)_4 crystal as the gain medium and a Co~(2+):Mg_(0.4)Al_(2.4)O_4 spinel crystal as the saturable absorber, an efficient passively Q-switched 1520 nm pulse laser was realized in a plano-plano cavity end-pumped by a 970 nm diode laser. At an absorbed pump power of 14.8 W and output mirror transmission of 4.6%, a 1520 nm pulse laser with 11.1 μJ energy, 16 ns duration and 27 kHz repetition rate was obtained, which resulted in about 0.7 kW output peak power. Furthermore, the influence of the output mirror transmission on the pulse energy, duration and repetition rate was also investigated.