Generation of Sub-100 ps Pulses at 532, 355, and 266 nm Using a SESAM Q-Switched Microchip Laser

We report a single-frequency semiconductor saturable absorber mirror Q-switched microchip laser system generating sub-100 ps pulses at 532, 355, and 266 nm. The system consists of a 1064 nm Nd: YVO4 master oscillator, Nd: YVO4 power amplifier, and one or two nonlinear crystals for single-pass frequency-conversion to visible and UV. The average output power is about 720 mW at 532 nm, 150 mW at 355 nm and 83 mW at 266 nm for a pulse repetition rate of similar to 100 kHz. At 532 nm the peak power is nearly 80 kW with pulse energy of about 7.2 mu J and spectral width of about 0.026 nm. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency from 808 to 532 nm is about 8.3%. In comparison with mode-locked picosecond systems, the proposed laser has intrinsically low repetition rate, which is desirable in certain applications. The laser has also inherently narrow spectral width, and high peak power and pulse energy. This unique combination of output parameters could make the system useful in several applications including fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, high-accuracy submarine LIDAR, STED microscopy, time-gated Raman spectroscopy two-photon polymerization, diamond Raman laser pumping, photo-acoustic imaging, and micro-machining/marking.