Energy extraction in dual-wavelength Q-switched laser with a common upper laser level

The effect of lower-laser-level lifetimes on Q-switched pulse generation in a dual-wavelength solid-state laser with a common upper laser level was numerically and experimentally investigated. A rate-equation model that accounts for finite lower-laser-level lifetimes was developed, and for a Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 and 1319 nm, numerical simulations of dual-wavelength pulse generation were performed with and without the effects of lower-laser-level lifetimes. In the laser experiments, characteristics of the dual-wavelength Q-switched pulses agree reasonably well with theoretical predictions. As a result, we found that both the total energy of the two Q-switched pulses and the ratio of 1064–1319-nm pulse energies were strongly affected by the lower-laser-level lifetimes when the Q-switched pulse width was comparable or shorter than the lower-laser-level lifetime.

[1]  Yung-Fu Chen,et al.  Diode-pumped Q-switched Nd : YVO4 yellow laser with intracavity sum-frequency mixing , 2002 .

[2]  D. Tang,et al.  Satellite pulse generation in diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO/sub 4/ lasers , 2006, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

[3]  J. Xu,et al.  Dual-wavelength oscillation at 1064 and 1342 nm in a passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser with V3+:YAG as saturable absorber , 2011 .

[4]  P. Dao,et al.  Development of an intracavity-summed multiple-wavelength Nd:YAG laser for a rugged, solid-state sodium lidar system. , 1995, Applied optics.

[5]  George A. Henderson,et al.  A computational model of a dual‐wavelength solid‐state laser , 1990 .

[6]  R. G. Smith,et al.  Stimulated-emission cross section and fluorescent quantum efficiency ofNd3+in yttrium aluminum garnet at room temperature , 1974 .

[7]  Yin Hang,et al.  High efficiency single- and dual-wavelength Nd : GdVO4 lasers pumped by a fiber-coupled diode , 2004 .

[8]  Guoren Zhang,et al.  Computational model of Q-switch Nd:YAlO3 dual-wavelength laser , 1998 .

[9]  Pranab K Dutta,et al.  Simultaneous multi-wavelength oscillation of Nd laser around 1.3 mum: A potential source for coherent terahertz generation. , 2006, Optics express.

[10]  Shining Zhu,et al.  530-mW quasi-white-light generation using all-solid-state laser technique , 2004 .

[11]  R. Wu,et al.  1079.5- and 1341.4-nm: larger energy from a dual-wavelength Nd:YAIO(3) pulsed laser. , 1993, Applied optics.

[12]  J. H. Huang,et al.  Cavity configuration for a Q-switched simultaneous dual-wavelength Nd:YAlO 3 laser with the characteristic of polarization-dependent emission cross section , 2003 .

[13]  Stephen A. Payne,et al.  Direct measurements of the terminal laser level lifetime in neodymium-doped crystals and glasses , 1995 .

[14]  Zeng‐fu Song,et al.  Study on YAG:Nd3+ spectra. I. Absorption spectra , 1988 .

[15]  D. B. Coyle,et al.  Effects of thermalization on Q-switched laser properties , 1998 .

[16]  Brian M. Walsh,et al.  Dual wavelength lasers , 2010 .

[17]  Fan Tso Yee.  Effect of finite lower level lifetime on Q-switched lasers , 1988 .

[18]  Intermittent oscillation of 1064 nm and 1342 nm obtained in a diode-pumped doubly passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser , 2009 .