Q-switched microrod Nd:YAG laser produces 300-microjoule pulses

A diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser based on fiber-coupling the pum¥laser to a 500-µm-diameter laser rod has been demonstrated by researchers at Continuum (Santa Clara, CA). The 5-mm-long microrod is butt-coupled to the pum¥fiber, which delivers the output from a 10-W CW diode laser. The device produces an unpolarized CW output power of 2.4 W at 1064 nm with an M2 of 1.2. Using a KT¥Pockels cell to Q-switch the laser produced pulse energies in excess of 300 µJ at a repetition rate of 1 kH¥and pulse duration less than 2 ns.

Novel OPO couples cavity mirrors directly onto uncoated crystal