Design and wavelength selection of compact dual-wavelength Yb:YAG lasers with a Z-shaped cavity

Abstract

The compact dual-wavelength Yb:YAG lasers were designed and developed by employing a Z-shaped cavity. The overall cavity length is about 32 cm, which can be packaged in a device size of 15 × 10 cm2. The oscillating beam radius in the laser crystal varied by the cavity length, and stable dual wavelength laser was achieved. The 1050 nm output of 1.44W was obtained at the highest pump power is 10 W when the oscillating beam radius was 125 μm. The balance dual-wavelength output of 0.93W was achieved with the optical to optical conversion efficiency of 9.3%. The output wavelengths of the Yb:YAG laser depended on the oscillating beam radius, which was consistent with the experimental results. Our findings indicated that while stringent mode matching was ideal, there was a degree of flexibility that can be tolerated without significantly compromising the laser's performance, which can be beneficial for the dual-wavelength oscillation in applications.