This article is cited in 25 papers

Lasers

High-peak power, passively Q-switched, composite, all-polycrystalline ceramic Nd : YAG/Cr⁴⁺ : YAG lasers

O. Sandu^a, G. Salamu^a, N. Pavel^a, T. Dascalu^a, D. Chuchumishev^b, A. Gaydardzhiev^b, I. Buchvarov<sup>b

a</sup> Laboratory of Solid-State Quantum Electronics, National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, Romania
^b Department of Physics, Sofia University, Bulgaria

Abstract: High-peak power, passively Q-switched, composite Nd : YAG/Cr⁴⁺ : YAG lasers consisting of all-polycrystalline bonded Nd : YAG and Cr⁴⁺ : YAG ceramics are developed, and two applications of such lasers are discussed. A 1.1-at. %-doped Nd : YAG/Cr⁴⁺ : YAG ceramic laser is fabricated, which is quasi-cw pumped by a diode laser in the Hz-range, delivering laser pulses of 2.5-mJ energy and 1.9-MW peak power. By frequency doubling the laser output in a LiB₃O₅ (LBO) nonlinear crystal at room temperature, 0.36-mJ, 0.3-MW green laser pulses with 27 % conversion efficiency are produced at 532 nm. Furthermore, a highly doped (1.5-at. %) Nd : YAG/Cr⁴⁺ : YAG ceramic laser operates successfully in the range of pulse repetition rates from 50 to 500 Hz, yielding 0.8-to-1.0 mJ pulses with a peak power around 1 MW. The laser output beam is amplified in a master-oscillator — power-amplifier (MOPA) system to generate laser pulses with 11-mJ energy at a 250-Hz repetition rate.

Keywords: neodymium lasers, passive Q-switching, ceramic lasers, diode laser pumping.

PACS: 42.55.Rz, 42.60.Gd, 81.05.Mh

Received: 04.10.2011

 English version: Quantum Electronics, 2012, 42:3, 211–215

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