Timing jitter reduction and single-frequency operation in an acousto-optic Q-switched Cr,Nd:YAG laser

A laser-diode-pumped watt-level single-frequency combined actively and passively Q-switched (CAPQ) laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm that simultaneously uses a codoped Cr(4+),Nd(3+):YAG crystal as the gain medium and mode selector is presented. The optimum repetition period of the CAPQ laser is approximately 1.5 times the natural repetition period of the passively Q-switched laser. The averaged timing jitter is approximately 400 ns in the CAPQ laser and the repetition rate of the CAPQ laser is experimentally shown to reach a time instability of 0.2% over 10(6) pulses. The output is a stable single frequency with a linewidth of 400 MHz at 20 W pump power.