Experimental and theoretical study of passively Q-switched Yb:YAG laser with GaAs saturable absorber near 1050 nm

A diode-end-pumped passively Q-switched ytterbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Yb:YAG) laser with gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer as saturable absorber has been realized. In the experiment, two pieces of GaAs wafers with respective thicknesses of 400 and 700 mu m were used respectively. The output laser characteristics such as the pulse duration, single pulse energy and peak power, have been measured. By using thicker GaAs wafer as saturable absorber, a minimum pulse duration of 3.5 ns was obtained with an average output power of 361 mW and a pulse repetition rate (PRR) of 25 kHz, corresponding to a single pulse energy of 19.6 mu J and a peak power of 5.7 kW. With a 400 mu m-thick GaAs wafer as saturable absorber, a maximum output power of 469 mW was achieved. The central wavelength of the laser was measured to be 1050.4 nm at pump power of 7.8 W and dual wavelength operation peaked at 1049.3 nm and 1051.6 nm was observed at a high pump power of 10 W. By considering Gaussian spatial distribution and the thermal effects in the gain medium, the coupled rate equations for passively Q-switched Yb:YAG laser with GaAs saturable absorber were given. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.