Cw and passively Q-switched laser performance of a mixed c-cut Nd:Gd0.33Lu0.33Y0.33VO4 crystal operating at 1.34 μm

Continuous wave and passively Q-switched laser operation with a mixed c-cut Nd:Gd0.33Lu0.33Y0.33VO4 crystal at 1.34 mu m has been realized for the first time as far as we know. The largest output power of the continuous wave was 1.1 W for the output mirror 01 5% transmission, with the optical conversion efficiency and the slope efficiency being 15% and 17.2%, respectively. The passive loss and the stimulated emission cross-section of the Nd:Gd0.33Lu0.33Y0.33VO4 crystal were found to be 0.6% and 0.47 x 10(-19) cm(2). The thermal lens effect that weakened the laser performance has also been measured. For passively Q-switched operation, the shortest pulse duration of 26 ns, the highest peak power of 1.8 kW, along with the pulse energy as large as 47 mu j, were obtained using V:YAG as Q-switch. The experimental results have shown that the passively Q-switched Nd:Gd0.33Lu0.33Y0.33VO4 laser can generate pulses with larger pulse energy and higher peak power in comparison with the passively Q-switched Nd:GdYVO4 lasers. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.