High power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser at repetition rate of 3.2 GHz**Project supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB16030200), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11774410 and 61575217), the National Key Scientific Instruments Development Program of China (Grant No. 2012YQ120047), and the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences

Abstract

A compact high power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser with high repetition rate is realized. Using an Nd:YVO4 crystal and a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) in the oscillator, the picosecond pulse output with an average power of 1.38 W, a repetition rate of 3.24 GHz, and a pulse duration of 11.4 ps is achieved. After one stage of amplification, the final output power reaches 11.34 W, corresponding to a total optical-to-optical efficiency of about 32%. The root mean square (RMS) value of power fluctuation is demonstrated to be less than 0.6% in 24 hours, showing a superior stability with the compact configuration.