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LD pumped passively Q-switched ceramic Nd:YAG 946 nm laser with a high peak power output

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Abstract

A compact multi-kilohertz, high-peak-power laser-diode end-pumped Nd:YAG ceramic quasi-three-level 946 nm laser is demonstrated. The maximum output power of 2.3 W is obtained in continuous-wave ceramic Nd:YAG 946 nm laser under the pump power (Pin) of 14.2 W. A Cr4+:YAG with an initial transmissivity of 92 % at 946 nm is utilized as saturable absorber in passively Q-switched laser. The average power of passively Q-switched 946 nm laser reaches 0.96 W with an optical-to-optical efficiency of 6.7 %. The pulse repetition frequency increases linearly with pump power and peaks at 8.2 kHz. The pulse width does not vary obviously versus pump power and the shortest pulse width of 946 nm laser is 13.0 ns. The output peak power is estimated to be 12.4 kW, much higher than previous results in pulsed ceramic Nd:YAG 946 nm laser.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Key Scientific Instrument and Equipment Development Projects of China (No. 2012YQ04016401), the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities (Grant No. HIT. NSRIF. 2015044 and 201165), General Financial Grant from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2015M80263, 2014M560262 and 2013M531040), Special Financial Grant from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2014T70336 and 2015T80350), Postdoctoral Fellowship in Heilongjiang Province (No. LBHZ13081 and LBH-Z14074), the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province of China (Grant No. F2015011), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (61405236 and 50990301).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Tunable Laser, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China

    Deying Chen, Hu Pan, Renpeng Yan, Xin Yu, Yufei Ma & Xudong Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Transparent and Opto-Functional Advanced Inorganic Materials, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200050, China

    Jiang Li & Yubai Pan

  3. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Optics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, 215163, China

    Jing Gao

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  1. Deying Chen
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  2. Hu Pan
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  3. Renpeng Yan
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  4. Xin Yu
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  5. Jiang Li
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  6. Yufei Ma
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  7. Xudong Li
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  8. Yubai Pan
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  9. Jing Gao
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Correspondence to Renpeng Yan.

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Chen, D., Pan, H., Yan, R. et al. LD pumped passively Q-switched ceramic Nd:YAG 946 nm laser with a high peak power output. Opt Quant Electron 48, 81 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-015-0363-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-015-0363-3

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