High Power Continuous-Wave and Acousto-Optic Q-Switched Nd:GdVO4 Laser Operated at 912 nm

Abstract

We present a high power and efficient operation of the 4F3/2 → 4I9/2 transition in Nd:GdVO4 at 912nm. In the cw mode, the maximum output power of 8.6 W is achieved when the incident pump power is 40.3 W, leading to a slope efficiency of 33.3% and an optical-optical efficiency of 21.3%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest cw laser power at 912 nm obtained with the conventional Nd:GdVO4 crystal. Pulsed operation of 912 nm laser has also been realized by inserting a small acousto-optic (A-O) Q-Switch inside the resonator. As a result, the minimal pulse width of 20 ns and the average laser power 1.43 W at the repetition rate of 10 kHz are obtained, corresponding to 7.1 kW peak power. We believe that this is the highest laser peak power at 912nm. Furthermore, duration of 65ns has also been acquired when the repetition rate is 100kHz.