Diode-pumped passively Q-switched laser operation of a Nd:GdNbO4 crystal at 1066 nm using Cr4+:YAG as a saturable absorber was demonstrated for the first time. Using two different Cr4+:YAG crystals with initial transmission of 95% and 90% as the saturable absorber for Q-switching, a maximum average output power of 0.50 and 0.41 W was obtained at a pulse repetition frequency of 28.7 and 17.8 KHz, respectively. The shortest pulse width of 23 ns, the largest pulse energy of 22.7 μJ, and the highest peak power of 974.1 W were obtained when the Cr4+:YAG crystal was used with an initial transmission of 90%. The shortest pulse width of 33.3 ns, the largest pulse energy of 17.3 μJ, and the highest peak power of 519 W were obtained when the Cr4+:YAG crystal was used with an initial transmission of 95%. All the results indicate that the Nd:GdNbO4 crystal is a material suitable for diode-pumped passively Q-switched lasers.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.