Baoquan Yao

2041.3 nm/2054.6 nm simultaneous dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode Tm, Ho:YVO4 microchip laser

We report a single-longitudinal-mode CW diode-pumped Tm, Ho: YVO4 microchip laser emitting at both 2041.3 and 2054.6 nm. At each wavelength, the laser has a single longitudinal mode. The total single-longitudinal-mode output power reaches 185 mW with 20.4% optical conversion efficiency at 905 mW incident pump power.

InGaAs/GaAs saturable absorber for diode-pumped passively Q-switched dual-wavelength Tm:YAP lasers.

We demonstrate the first use of InGaAs/GaAs as a saturable absorber in the Q-switching of a diode pumped Tm(3+) doped laser operating at the wavelengths of 1940 nm and 1986 nm. The influence of the semiconductor saturable absorbers (SESA) position and thermal lens effect on the Q-switch characteristics was investigated. With a pump power of 35 W, the maximum pulse energy of 28.1 microJ with a pulse width of 447 ns at the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 43.7 kHz was obtained by selecting the appropriate position of the SESA.

Gain-switched Tm3+-doped double-clad silica fiber laser.

A gain-switched Tm-doped double-clad silica fiber laser operating at a wavelength of approximately 2microm with moderate output energy of 14.7mJ per pulse and a slope efficiency of 39.5% (with respect to launched pump energy) is realized pumped at 1.064microm from a Nd:YAG laser. The gain-switched fiber laser pulses are built up by a series of relaxation spikes, and every spike pulse duration is nearly 1micros. The output wavelength becomes longer, and the slope efficiency increases with the increase in fiber length.

Continuous-wave and Q-switched operation of a resonantly pumped Ho:YAlO3 laser.

We demonstrated continuous-wave (CW) and Q-switched operation of a room-temperature Ho:YAlO(3) laser that is resonantly end-pumped by a diode-pumped Tm:YLF laser at 1.91 microm. The CW Ho:YAlO(3) laser generated 5.5 W of linearly polarized (EII c ) output at 2118 nm with beam quality factor of M(2) approximately 1.1 for an incident pump power of 13.8 W, corresponding to optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 40%. Up to 1- mJ energy per pulse at pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 5 kHz, and the maximum average power of 5.3-W with FWHM pulse duration of 30.5 ns at 20 kHz were achieved in Q-switched mode.

Diode-pumped continuous wave and Q-switched operation of a c-cut Tm,Ho:YAlO 3 laser

We report on a diode-pumped, cryogenic and room temperature operation of a Tm,Ho:YAlO3 (c-cut) laser. In a temperature of 77 K, an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 27% and a slope efficiency of 29% were achieved with the maximum continuous-wave (CW) output power of 5.0 W at 2.13 microm. Acousto-optic switched operation was performed at pulse repetition frequency (PRF) from 1 kHz to 10 kHz, the highest pulse energy of 3.3 mJ in a pulse duration of 40 ns was obtained. In room temperature (RT), the maximum CW power of Tm,Ho:YAlO3 laser was 160 mW with a slope efficiency of 11% corresponding to the absorbed pump power.

High efficient actively Q-switched Ho:LuAG laser

We present the room temperature Q-switched performances of a Ho:LuAG laser operated at 2.1 microm. At the repetition rate of 10 kHz, the maximum average output power of 9.9 W with a slope efficiency of 69.9% relative to absorbed pump power was obtained in Ho:LuAG laser. Also, the minimum pulse width of 33.0 ns was obtained, corresponding to the peak power was 30.0 kW.

7.3 W of single-frequency output power at 2.09 μm from an Ho:YAG monolithic nonplanar ring laser

Single-frequency output power of 7.3 W at 2.09 mum from a monolithic Ho:YAG nonplanar ring oscillator (NPRO) is demonstrated. Resonantly pumped by a Tm-doped fiber laser at 1.91 mum, the Ho:YAG NPRO produces 71% of slope efficiency with respect to absorbed pump power and nearly diffraction-limited output with a beam quality parameter of M(2) approximately 1.1.

103 W in-band dual-end-pumped Ho:YAG laser

An efficient 2 μm in-band pumped Ho:YAG laser was demonstrated. The resonator involves two Ho:YAG crystals, each of which was dual-end-pumped by two orthogonally polarized diode-pumped Tm:YLF lasers. The maximum continuous wave output power of 103 W was achieved, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 67.8% with respect to the incident pump power and an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 63.5%. Under Q-switched mode, we obtained 101 W laser output at 30 kHz, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 66.2%. The beam quality or M2 factor was found to be less than 2.

Compact diode end-pumped c-cut Tm,Ho:YAlO3 laser

Cryogenic temperature operation of a c-cut Tm(5%),Ho(0.3%):YAlO3 laser end-pumping by a fiber-coupled laser-diode is reported. A 2.55 W incident pump power is used to generate 160 mW of laser output, representing a 7.1% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency respect to the incident pump power. In the experiment, three wavelengths—2.04, 2.10, and 2.13 µm oscillation have been observed simultaneously, which is agreement with the inherent a-axis polarization fluorescence spectra of Tm,Ho:YAlO3. Also single wavelength oscillation performance has been observed which is centered at 2.13 µm.

Performance of AO Q-switched Tm,Ho:GdVO4laser pumped by a 794nm laser diode

Acousto-optically Q-switched operation of Tm (5 at. %), Ho(0.5 at. %):GdVO4 laser was reported in this paper. The Tm,Ho:GdVO4 crystal was cooled by liquid nitrogen and end-pumped by a 13.6 W fiber-coupled laser diode at 794 nm. Average power of 3.9W was obtained at pulse repetition frequency (PRF) from 10 to 50 kHz, with corresponding to optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 29 %, and slope efficiency of 35%. The highest energy per pulse of 1.1 mJ in 23 ns was achieved at 3 kHz with peak power of 46 kW.