Q-switched laser operation of Yb-doped NaGd(WO4)2 and NaY(WO4)2 crystals

The tetragonal double tungstates NaGd(WO4)2 and NaY(WO4)2 are uniaxial crystals which can be grown from the melt by the Czochralski method and exhibit disordered crystalline structure. The structural disorder leads to additional inhomogeneous broadening of the spectral features of the doping rare-earth ions. We report on passive Q-switching of Yb:NaGd(WO4)2 and Yb:NaY(WO4)2 lasers operating near 1 μm using a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber in a simple, diode end-pumped plano-concave resonator. With both crystals average powers of roughly 2 W were obtained for pulse durations of ≈30 ns and single pulse energy of ≈150 μJ at kilohertz repetition rates (roughly from 1 kHz to above 10 kHz). The maximum slope efficiency achieved in the Q-switched mode of operation was 40%.

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