Abstract
There is an increasing demand for high-intensity subnanosecond lasers for emerging industrial applications. While femtosecond and picosecond laser sources are considered promising, they suffer from the significant drawbacks of increased complexity and cost. In this regard, we demonstrate a unique edge-pumped passively Q-switched Nd∶YAG/Cr4+∶YAG microchip laser. The microchip is made of a Nd∶YAG/Sm∶YAG composite ceramic, and a Sm∶YAG cladding is utilized as both the pump beam waveguide and amplified spontaneous emission absorber. With the use of a flat-concave laser cavity, we obtain single-pulse energy of 1.66 mJ for an absorbed pump energy of 24 mJ. Further, the resulting pulse width is 683 ps, and the repetition rate is 10 Hz.
Highlights
Compact, passive Q-switched lasers have found extensive use in applications requiring high laser intensities with subnanosecond pulses, such as microprocessing, remote sensing, laser ignition, and intense UV generation
We demonstrate a unique edge-pumped passively Q-switched Nd∶YAG∕Cr4þ∶YAG microchip laser
Most of the passive Q-switched lasers are based on the end-pump configuration, which may suffer from thermal problems.[1,2]
Summary
Passive Q-switched lasers have found extensive use in applications requiring high laser intensities with subnanosecond pulses, such as microprocessing, remote sensing, laser ignition, and intense UV generation. Most of the passive Q-switched lasers are based on the end-pump configuration, which may suffer from thermal problems.[1,2] In this context, the technique of diode edge-pumping is a unique pumping method that can be used to realize the separation of the pump, laser, and cooling interface in a passive Q-switched lasing setup. The separation makes laser operation easy, and cooling of the gain medium becomes effective. We have demonstrated an output power of 414 W (continuous wave) in an edge-pumped all-ceramic Yb∶YAG∕YAG microchip laser.[3] Further, gain-guiding and transverse mode control in a lens-less edge-pumped microchip laser have been demonstrated in other studies.[4,5] In comparison with a thin-disk laser,[6] which applies the same cooling method, the edge-pump configuration is more
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