Q-switched resonantly diode-pumped Er:YAG laser

Abstract

In this work, resonant diode pumping has been demonstrated for Q-switched and CW Er:YAG solid state lasers (SSLs) at eye-safe wavelengths. Resonant pumping was realized by using high spectral brightness 1470 nm laser diodes. An efficient 1645 nm CW laser with output power >3.5 W in the TEM₀₀ mode was demonstrated. More than 11 mJ of output pulse energy in the TEM₀₀ mode has been achieved for Q-switched operation at 20Hz repetition rate. M² of the output beam was better than 1.5 over the entire range of output pulse energies. We achieved an output peak power of ~400 kW.