Pulse energy enhancement in passive Q-switching operation with a class of Nd:GdxY1-xVO4 crystals

Passive Q-switching operation with a class of Nd:GdxY1-xVO4 crystals has been demonstrated. Compared to Nd:YVO4 and Nd:GdVO4, the pulse energy produced with Nd:Gd0.64Y0.36VO4 under certain conditions was found to be enhanced by factors of 6.0 and 2.5, while the peak power enhanced by factors of 14.7 and 3.6, respectively. At the incident pump power of 9.6 W, 1.3 W of average output power was obtained, with the pulse energy, peak power, and pulse repetition frequency being 166 muJ, 24.5 kW, and 7.7 kHz, respectively. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.