Abstract

We report an efficient high-peak-power and high-average-power passively Q-switched ytterbium fiber laser with a Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal as a saturable absorber in an external-resonator configuration. At an incident pump power of 17.5 W, the passively Q-switched fiber laser produces an average power greater than 6.2 W with a pulse repetition rate of 48 kHz. The output pulses noticeably display a mode-locking phenomenon that leads to the maximum peak power to be higher than 20 kW.

©2007 Optical Society of America

High-power diode-pumped Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YVO₄ laser with a Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber

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