Abstract
This paper reports on a passively mode-locked and Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser generating picosecond pulses with an average output power exceeding 7 W. In a first step Q-switch mode-locking was obtained by self Q-switching of a mode-locked oscillator with appropriate cavity design, pump power and output coupling. In a second system the Q-switching was actively controlled and stabilized by modulating the resonator internal losses with an acousto-optic modulator. In the Q-switch mode-locking operation the laser provided 12.8 ps long mode-locked pulses with a repetition rate of 80 MHz. The repetition rate of the Q-switch envelope was 185 kHz. The maximum pulse energy of a single ps pulse was 0.55 μJ which is 5.5 times the pulse energy measured for cw mode locking. The total energy of the pulses within the Q-switch envelope was 42 μJ.
References
A. Ruf, F. Dausinger, Femtosecond Technology for Technical and Medical Applications (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2004)
D. Breitling, A. Ruf, F. Dausinger, Proc. SPIE 5339, 49 (2004)
S.C. Camacho-Lopez, R. Evans, C. Greenhalgh, C. Torti, J. Robertson, R. Majoribanks, P. Herman, M. Nantel, L. Lilge, Conf. Lasers and Electro-Optics, Paper CFF2 (2000)
T. Herrmann, H. Haloui, R. Knappe, B. Henrich, A. Nebel, Proc. 25th Int. Congress on Application of Lasers and Electro-Optics (ICALEO), Paper M1003 (2004)
T.M. Jeong, K.S. Kim, C.J. Kim, J. Korean Phys. Soc. 35, 290 (1999)
A. Agnesi, G.C. Reali, V. Kubecek, Appl. Phys. B 66, 283 (1998)
V. Kubecek, J. Biegert, J.C. Diels, M.R. Kokta, Opt. Commun. 174, 317 (2000)
Y. Chen, S.W. Tai, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. QE-37, 580 (2001)
P.K. Datta, S. Mukhopadhyay, S.K. Das, L. Tartara, A. Agnesi, V. Degiorgio, Opt. Express 12, 4041 (2004)
C. Hönninger, R. Paschotta, F. Morier-Genoud, M. Moser, U. Keller, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 16, 46 (1999)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
PACS
42.55.Xi; 42.60.Fc; 42.60.Gd
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Theobald, C., Weitz, M., Knappe, R. et al. Stable Q-switch mode-locking of Nd:YVO4 lasers with a semiconductor saturable absorber. Appl. Phys. B 92, 1–3 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-008-3073-8
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-008-3073-8