Passive Q-switching of the diode pumped Tm:KLu(WO4)2 laser near 2-μm with Cr :ZnS

Single pulse energies as high as 145 μJ were generated with a passively Q-switched diode-pumped Tm:KLu(WO4)2 laser using polycrystalline Cr:ZnS as a saturable absorber. The maximum average power reached 0.39 W at a pulse repetition rate of 2.7 kHz with pulse durations in the 25 – 30 ns range. The maximum peak power amounted to 6 kW. The obtained results agree well with theoretical analysis. ©2012 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (140.3540) Lasers, Q-switched; (140.3070) Infrared and far-infrared lasers; (140.3480) Lasers, diode-pumped. References and links 1. A. Godard, “Infrared (2–12 μm) solid-state laser sources: a review,” C. R. Phys. 8(10), 1100–1128 (2007). 2. M. Mond, E. Heumann, G. Huber, S. Kuck, V. I. Levchenko, V. N. Yakimovich, V. E. Shcherbitsky, V. E. Kisel, and N. V. Kuleshov, “Passive Q-switching of a diode-pumped Tm:YAG laser by Cr:ZnSe,” Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe, CLEO/Europe (2003), paper CA7–5-WED, CD ROM. 3. L. E. Batay, A. N. Kuzmin, A. S. Grabtchikov, V. A. Lisinetskii, V. A. Orlovich, A. A. Demidovich, A. N. Titov, V. V. Badikov, S. G. Sheina, V. L. Panyutin, M. Mond, and S. Kück, “Efficient diode-pumped passively Qswitched laser operation around 1.9 μm and self-frequency Raman conversion of Tm-doped KY(WO4)2,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 81(16), 2926–2928 (2002). 4. M. S. Gaponenko, I. A. Denisov, V. E. Kisel, A. M. Malyarevich, A. A. Zhilin, A. A. Onushchenko, N. V. Kuleshov, and K. V. Yumashev, “Diode-pumped Tm: KY(WO4)2 laser passively Q-switched with PbS-doped glass,” Appl. Phys. B 93(4), 787–791 (2008). 5. B. Yao, Y. Tian, G. Li, and Y. Wang, “InGaAs/GaAs saturable absorber for diode-pumped passively Q-switched dual-wavelength Tm:YAP lasers,” Opt. Express 18(13), 13574–13579 (2010). 6. W. T. Silvast, Laser Fundamentals (Cambridge University Press 1996). 7. S. A. Payne, L. L. Chase, L. K. Smith, W. L. Kway, and W. F. Krupke, “Infrared cross-section measurements for crystals doped with Er, Tm, and Ho,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 28(11), 2619–2630 (1992). 8. M. C. Pujol, X. Mateos, A. Aznar, X. Solans, S. Suriñach, J. Massons, F. Díaz, and M. Aguiló, “Structural redetermination, thermal expansion and refractive indices of KLu(WO4)2,” J. Appl. Cryst. 39(2), 230–236 (2006). 9. V. Petrov, M. Cinta Pujol, X. Mateos, Ò. Silvestre, S. Rivier, M. Aguiló, R. M. Solé, J. Liu, U. Griebner, and F. Díaz, “Growth and properties of KLu(WO4)2, and novel ytterbium and thulium lasers based on this monoclinic crystalline host,” Laser Photonics Rev. 1(2), 179–212 (2007). 10. X. Mateos, V. Petrov, J. Liu, M. C. Pujol, U. Griebner, M. Aguiló, F. Díaz, M. Galan, and G. Viera, “Efficient 2μm continuous wave laser oscillation of Tm:KLu(WO4)2,” IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 42, 1008–1015 (2006). 11. O. Silvestre, J. Grau, M. C. Pujol, J. Massons, M. Aguiló, F. Díaz, M. T. Borowiec, A. Szewczyk, M. U. Gutowska, M. Massot, A. Salazar, and V. Petrov, “Thermal properties of monoclinic KLu(WO4)2 as a promising solid state laser host,” Opt. Express 16(7), 5022–5034 (2008). 12. S. Vatnik, M. C. Pujol, J. J. Carvajal, X. Mateos, M. Aguiló, F. Díaz, and V. Petrov, “Thermo-optic coefficients of monoclinic KLu(WO4)2,” Appl. Phys. B 95(4), 653–656 (2009). 13. R. Sole, V. Nikolov, and X. Ruiz, “Jna. Gavalda, X. Solans, M. Aguilo, and F. Diaz, “Growth of βKGd1−xNdx(WO4)2 single crystals in K2W2O7 solvents,” J. Cryst. Growth 169, 600–603 (1996). #156170 $15.00 USD Received 10 Oct 2011; accepted 3 Nov 2011; published 30 Jan 2012 (C) 2012 OSA 12 March 2012 / Vol. 20, No. S2 / OPTICS EXPRESS A3394 14. M. Segura, X. Mateos, M. C. Pujol, J. J. Carvajal, M. Aguiló, F. Díaz, V. Panyutin, U. Griebner, and V. Petrov, “Diode-pumped passively Q-switched Tm:KLuW laser with a Cr:ZnSe saturable absorber,” Advanced Solid State Photonics, ASSP 2010, paper ATuA6, CD ROM. 15. W. Koechner, Solid State Laser Engineering (Springer, 2006).