Short pulse-width gain-switched Ho:YAG ceramic laser at ∼2.09  μm

This paper presents a short pulse-width gain-switched Ho:YAG ceramic laser at 2089 nm resonantly pumped by a homemade Q-switched Tm:fiber laser at ∼1908  nm. We generated stable pulses of 44-103 ns duration and 0.13-2 kW peak power at 20 kHz of pulse repetition frequency when the incident pump pulse energy increased from ∼0.1 to 0.3 mJ. We also obtained an average output power of 1.76 W under an incident pump power of 6 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 41.8%. Finally, this paper discusses the prospects to further improve the results with even a shorter pulse-width and higher peak power.