High-power xenon lamp-pumped Er:YAP pulse laser operated in free-running and acousto-optical Q-switching modes

Abstract

We demonstrate a high-energy and high-power pulse laser on a xenon lamp-pumped Er:YAP crystal. The laser performance and thermal focal lengths under different working frequencies are discussed. The results show that the thermal lens effect is gradually aggravated with the increase of working frequencies, and even working at 100 Hz, a single pulse energy of 234 mJ can be achieved. A maximum average power of 41.5 W is achieved with a working frequency of 20 Hz and slope efficiency of 2.82%. This output power is much higher than other xenon lamp-pumped erbium laser devices. A Q-switched laser is demonstrated by using the TeO2 crystal, the maximum output energies of 11.5 mJ and 3.5 mJ are obtained at 50 and 100 Hz, the corresponding peak powers are 93.4 kW and 17.2 kW, respectively. The laser wavelengths and beam quality factors are also characterized in the free-running and Q-switched modes. A higher pulse energy and peak power laser could be achieved further by improving the damage threshold of TeO2 acousto-optical Q-switching. All the experimental results illustrate that the xenon lamp-pumped Er:YAP laser is a promising candidate for high-power and high-frequency mid-infrared laser devices.