High-power actively Q-switched Ho-doped gadolinium tantalate laser

In this paper, we present the acousto-optical (AO) Q-switched performance of a holmium (Ho):gadolinium tantalate (GdTaO4) (Ho:GTO) laser pumped by a thulium (Tm)-fiber laser emitting at 1.94 mu m. In the efficient continuous wave (CW) regime, a maximum output power of 30.5 W at 2068.8 nm was achieved, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 74.9% with respect to the absorbed pump power. In the Q-switching regime, pulse energies of 2.4 mJ, 1.2 mJ, and 0.9 mJ were obtained with pulse repetition frequencies of 10 kHz, 20 kHz, and 30 kHz, respectively. The minimum pulse widths were 18 ns, 23 ns, and 26 ns, corresponding to peak powers of approximately 133.3 kW, 52.2 kW, and 34.6 kW, respectively. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

This paper presents the acousto-optical Q-switched performance of a Ho:GTO laser pumped by a Tm-fiber laser. The laser achieved high output power in the continuous wave regime and different pulse energies and repetition frequencies in the Q-switching regime.