Passively Q-switched diode-pumped Er:YAG solid-state laser

Adrien Aubourg (1, 2) , Julien Didierjean (1) , Nicolas Aubry (1) , François Balembois (2) , Patrick Georges (2)

1 Fibercryst
2 Laboratoire Charles Fabry / Lasers

We demonstrated laser operation of a passively Q-switched diode-pumped Er:YAG solid-state laser emitting at 1645 or 1617 nm depending on the initial transmission of the Cr:ZnSe saturable absorber. The crystal emitted up to 10 W at 1645 nm and up to 8 W at 1617 nm in CW mode while pumped with 65 W of incident pump power at 1533 nm. In passive Q-switched mode with 40 W of incident power, a Cr:ZnSe saturable absorber with initial transmission of 85% led to 330 μJ pulse energy, 61 ns pulse duration at a repetition rate of 1460 Hz at 1645 nm. An 80% initial transmission Cr:ZnSe sample led to 510 μJ energy pulses, 41 ns pulse duration at a repetition rate of 820 Hz with a central wavelength change from 1645 to 1617 nm. This is the first reported passively Q-switched diode-pumped Er:YAG laser operating on the 4 I13∕2 → 4 I15∕2 transition.

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Adrien Aubourg, Julien Didierjean, Nicolas Aubry, François Balembois, Patrick Georges. Passively Q-switched diode-pumped Er:YAG solid-state laser. Optics Letters, 2013, 38 (6), pp.938. ⟨10.1364/OL.38.000938⟩. ⟨hal-00816854⟩