High-efficiency direct-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 1.34 microm

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Laser Physics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Neodymium-doped yttrium orthovanadate (Nd:YVO4) lasers are crucial for various applications.
• Optimizing laser performance, particularly efficiency and beam quality, remains a key research area.
• Exploring alternative pumping schemes can enhance laser output characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate a high-efficiency Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 1342 nm.
• To evaluate the performance of 879 nm pumping compared to traditional 808 nm pumping.
• To optimize a plano-concave cavity for improved laser efficiency and beam quality.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an all-solid-state Q-switched Ti:Sapphire laser at 879 nm for pumping.
• Employed two Nd:YVO4 crystals with different Nd(3+) doping concentrations (1.0- and 3.0-at.%).
• Optimized a plano-concave laser cavity and measured output power and efficiency.

Main Results:

• Achieved a high slope efficiency of 64% for a 1.0-at.% Nd:YVO4 crystal under 879 nm pumping.
• Obtained an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 41.3% with the optimized setup.
• Demonstrated a 10.5% higher slope efficiency using 879 nm pumping compared to 808 nm pumping.

Conclusions:

• 879 nm pumping offers a significant advantage for high-efficiency Nd:YVO4 laser operation at 1342 nm.
• The optimized plano-concave cavity design contributes to enhanced laser performance.
• This work provides a promising approach for developing efficient solid-state lasers.