Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 17, 2026
08:48
Low-cost Custom Fabrication and Mode-locked Operation of an All-normal-dispersion Femtosecond Fiber Laser for Multiphoton Microscopy
Published on: November 22, 2019
8.0K
Passively Q-switched Tm:YLF laser at 2.3 µm: instability analysis and stabilization.
Optics Letters
|January 15, 2026
Summary
We developed a novel cascade laser scheme using Thulium-doped Yttrium Lithium Fluoride (Tm:YLF) crystals to achieve stable 2.3-µm passively Q-switched laser pulses. This method overcomes instabilities for practical applications.
Area of Science:
- Laser Physics
- Quantum Electronics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Cascade laser schemes enable multi-wavelength emission from rare-earth doped materials.
- Thulium (Tm)-doped lasers are crucial for mid-infrared applications.
- Passively Q-switched lasers offer compact and efficient pulsed operation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate a diode-pumped Tm:YLF laser operating at 2.3 µm using a cascade scheme.
- To investigate and stabilize the dynamics of the 2.3 µm passively Q-switched laser.
- To analyze the correlation between the 1.9 µm and 2.3 µm laser dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Implementation of a cascade laser design utilizing Tm:YLF.
- Isolation of 1.9 µm continuous-wave (cw) operation from the saturable absorber.
- Analysis of Q-switched dynamics using Poincaré maps and spatial filtering for stabilization.
Main Results:
- Achieved stable 2.3 µm passively Q-switched laser operation.
- Identified and mitigated instabilities arising from multimode beam characteristics.
- Obtained 1.5 µs pulses with 4 µJ energy at a 5 kHz repetition rate.
Conclusions:
- The cascade laser scheme effectively enables 2.3 µm emission from Tm:YLF.
- Spatial filtering is a viable method for stabilizing Q-switched laser dynamics.
- The stabilized laser system provides practical parameters for potential applications.
