Performance of a diode-pumped 5 W Nd3+:GdVO4 microchip laser at 1.06 μm

4 as a host for neodymium has several advantages for diode pumping in comparison with other crystals. The absorption cross section of neodymium in GdVO4 is considerably stronger and broader than in YAG. This allows for the construction of very compact monolithical microchip lasers. In our paper, we report for the first time on a diode-pumped monolithical Nd3+([%at.]1.3):GdVO4 microchip laser at 1.06 μm. A maximum output power of 5 W is achieved. The temporal and the spectral emission properties are described. The beam propagation properties are studied in detail.