In-band pumped polarized, narrow-linewidth Er:YAG laser at 1645 nm

We report a polarized, narrow-linewidth Er:YAG laser operating at 1645 nm, in-band pumped by a continuous-wave (CW), narrowband 1532 nm fiber-coupled laser diode (LD). A maximum polarized continuous wave output power of 8.45 W was obtained, resulting in an optical conversion efficiency of 56% with respect to the absorbed pump power. The central wavelength was measured to be 1645.45 nm, with a full width at half-maximum of 0.13 nm. For Q-switched operation, pulse energy of 12 mJ at 100 Hz pulse repetition frequency and 95 ns pulse duration was yielded. To the best of our knowledge, this polarized pulse energy is the highest energy reported for a Q-switched Er:YAG laser pumped by a CW LD.