Pulse train characterisitcs of a passively Q-switched microchip laser

A study of passively Q-switched microchip laser pulse trains yields approximate, yet reliable, formulae for the peak power, pulse energy, half-width, period, and the pulse shape in time. The pulse gain differential equation is made integrable by assuming that the laser absorption cross sections for the gain and saturable absorber are equal. We compare our predictions with an experiment which uses Nd:YAG as a gain medium and Cr:YAG as a saturable absorber. The agreement between theory and experiment for the period, pulse width, and the pulse energy is within 10%.