A diode-pumped microchip laser is developed and achieves self Q-switched operation, which produces nanosecond pulses at a wavelength of 946 nm. The laser medium is a crystal of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) doped with both neodymium and chromium. The two surfaces of the NdCr:YAG crystal are coated with dielectric layers, which serve as the mirrors of the laser cavity. The Nd³⁺ ions in the NdCr:YAG crystal function as the gain medium while the Cr⁴⁺ ions act as a saturable absorber. The presence of the saturable absorber leads to self Q-switching, which produces laser pulses of 3.7-ns duration and 946-nm wavelength at a peak power of 240 W. When the laser output is focused onto a KNbO₃ crystal, nanosecond pulses of blue color at 473 nm are obtained. The blue laser output has a single frequency and TEM00 transverse mode at a peak power of approximately 18 W.

Date Published: 13 March 2002
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 4630, Solid State Lasers XI, (13 March 2002); doi: 10.1117/12.459005

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4630:
Solid State Lasers XI
Richard Scheps, Editor(s)