Continuous-wave and passively Q-switched laser performance with a disordered Nd:CLNGG crystal

We demonstrated efficient high-power continuous-wave (cw) and passively Q-switched disordered Nd:CLNGG laser performance. In cw operations, the output power was obtained to be 3.81 W with a slope efficiency of 30.3%. To our knowledge, they are the highest cw power and efficiency with Nd:CLNGG as the gain medium and a laser-diode (LD) as the pump source. Recorded with a spectrum analyzer, no splitting was found in the Nd:CLNGG laser, which is different with that of its isomorph Nd:CNGG. The LD pumped passively Q-switched Nd:CLNGG laser was obtained for the first time to our knowledge. The shortest pulse width, largest pulse energy and highest peak power were achieved to be 12.3 ns, 199.1 microJ and 16 kW, respectively, with Cr(4+):YAG crystals as the saturable absorbers.