Title :
Continuous wave, Q-switched and mode-locked operation of a laser-pumped Nd:LNA laser
Author :
Shi, Y. ; Ragey, J.P. ; Haugen, H.K.
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Phys. & Astron., Aarhus Univ., Denmark
fDate :
2/1/1993 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A linear cavity Nd:LNA laser pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser was investigated in a continuous wave (CW), Q-switched and mode-locked regime. A parallel study using a Nd:YAG crystal was also conducted using the same optics and intercavity elements. The slope efficiencies obtained with a 5% output coupler in CW operation are 41 and 55% for Nd:LNA (λ~1.054 nm) and Nd:YAG (λ~1.065 nm), respectively. Mode locking was achieved with a 360-MHz intracavity phase modulator and led to a relative improvement of the Nd:LNA versus the Nd:YAG device. In the Q-switched mode with an intracavity acoustooptic modulator, the performance of the two lasers is almost identical. With 300 mW of absorbed pump power at λ~800 nm, peak powers ~130 W were achieved in a 65-ns pulse with a 5% output coupler
Keywords :
Q-switching; acousto-optical devices; lanthanum compounds; laser mode locking; neodymium; neodymium compounds; optical modulation; optical pumping; solid lasers; 1.054 nm; 1.065 nm; 130 W; 300 mW; 360 MHz; 41 percent; 55 percent; 65 ns; 800 nm; Al2O3:Ti; CW operation; La1-xNdxMgAl11O19:Nd; Nd:YAG crystal; Q-switched operation; Ti:sapphire laser; YAG:Nd; YAl5O12:Nd; absorbed pump power; intracavity acoustooptic modulator; intracavity phase modulator; laser-pumped Nd:LNA laser; linear cavity; mode-locked operation; output coupler; peak powers; slope efficiencies; Absorption; Crystalline materials; Laser excitation; Laser mode locking; Laser tuning; Neodymium; Optical pumping; Pump lasers; Solid lasers; Solid state circuits;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
