Semiconductor quantum-well saturable absorbers for efficient passive Q switching of a diode-pumped 946 nm Nd:YAG laser (original) (raw)
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InGaAsP quantum-wells saturable absorber for diode-pumped passively Q-switched 1.3-μm lasers
Applied Physics B, 2006
We demonstrate the first use of InGaAsP quantum wells as a saturable absorber in the Q-switching of a diodepumped Nd-doped 1.3 µm laser. The barrier layers of the In-GaAsP quantum-well device are designed to be a strong absorber for the suppression of the transition channel at 1.06 µm. With an incident pump power of 1.8 W, an average output power of 160 mW with a Q-switched pulse width of 19 ns at a pulse repetition rate of 38 kHz was obtained.
High-peak-power passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 946 nm
Applied Physics B, 2008
We demonstrate a high-peak-power quasi-continuous-wave diode-pumped passive Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 946 nm. We make a thorough comparison of the output performance between the saturable absorbers of InGaAs quantum wells (QWs) and a Cr 4+ :YAG crystal. Experimental results reveal that the saturable absorber of InGaAs QWs is superior to the Cr 4+ :YAG crystal because of the low nonsaturable losses and leads to a pulse energy of 330 µJ with a peak power greater than 11 kW.
Passive Q-switching of a Nd:YAG laser with a GaAs output coupler
Optical Engineering, 1999
By using GaAs as an output coupler as well as a saturable absorber, passive Q-switching of an arc-lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser has been demonstrated. The shortest pulse duration obtained was 77.6 ns, corresponding to a pulse energy of 34 J. The laser average output power was 2.1 W with a power density in GaAs at 1.5ϫ10 3 W cm Ϫ2 . No optical damage to GaAs was observed without any active cooling.
Optics Letters, 2007
We demonstrate what is believed to be the first use of AlGaInAs quantum wells (QWs) as a saturable absorber in the Q switching of a high-power diode-pumped Nd-doped 1.06 m laser. The barrier layers are designed to locate the QW groups in the region of the nodes of the lasing standing wave to avoid damage. With an incident pump power of 13.5 W, an average output power of 3.5 W with a Q-switched pulse width of 0.9 ns at a pulse repetition rate of 110 kHz was obtained.
Optics Letters, 2005
A low-loss semiconductor saturable absorber based on InAs͞GaAs quantum dots was developed for Q switching of a diode-pumped Nd-doped laser operating at 1.3 mm. With an InAs͞GaAs quantum-dot saturable absorber, a diode-pumped Nd:YVO 4 laser at 1342 nm was achieved. With an incident pump power of 2.2 W, an average output power of 360 mW with a Q-switched pulse width of 90 ns at a pulse repetition rate of 770 kHz was obtained.
Passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO 4 laser with GaAs saturable absorber
Optics and Laser Technology, 2004
A xenon ash-lamp-pumped, passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 laser with GaAs semiconductor saturable absorber is demonstrated. The static laser performance is investigated and the static output is 52 mJ when the pump energy is 9:45 J. The dynamic laser has the highest slope e ciency when the GaAs wafer is both the saturable absorber and output coupler. Pulses with duration of 64 ns and dynamic output of 47:6 mJ are obtained when the pump energy is 9:45 J. The highest dynamic-static ratio is 0.9:1. The coupled rate equations are used to simulate the Q-switched process of laser. The theoretical and experimental results are compared and discussed. ?
2010
We develop an AlGaInAs periodic quantum-well (QW) device with a large modulation strength to severs as a saturable absorber in a QCW diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser. The saturation transmission of the AlGaInAs QW saturable absorber was measured with a nanosecond 1064-nm Q-switched laser as the excitation source. Measured result indicates that AlGaInAs QW device has a much larger absorption cross section than that of Cr4+:YAG crystal to be an appropriate absorber for passively Q-switching Nd:YVO4 lasers. Stable Q-switched pulses with a pulse energy of 3.5 mJ and a peak power of >1 MW were generated at a pump energy of 34 mJ. The fluctuation of the output pulse energy at a repetition rate of 200 Hz was found to be less than ±2%. I.