Continuous wave, Q-switched and mode-locked operation of a laser-pumped Nd:LNA laser

A linear cavity Nd:LNA laser pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser was investigated in a continuous wave (CW), Q-switched and mode-locked regime. A parallel study using a Nd:YAG crystal was also conducted using the same optics and intercavity elements. The slope efficiencies obtained with a 5% output coupler in CW operation are 41 and 55% for Nd:LNA ( lambda approximately 1.054 nm) and Nd:YAG ( lambda approximately 1.065 nm), respectively. Mode locking was achieved with a 360-MHz intracavity phase modulator and led to a relative improvement of the Nd:LNA versus the Nd:YAG device. In the Q-switched mode with an intracavity acoustooptic modulator, the performance of the two lasers is almost identical. With 300 mW of absorbed pump power at lambda approximately 800 nm, peak powers approximately 130 W were achieved in a 65-ns pulse with a 5% output coupler.<
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