Room-temperature Q-switched Tm : BaY2F8 laser pumped by CW diode laser

We report on the realization of CW diode-pumped Tm:BaY2F8 Q-switched laser at 1.93 mu m. Active Q-switching was obtained by means of an intracavity Pockels cell. A functional characterization of the laser performance is presented with particular attention to output energy, pulse duration, pulse stability, and wavelength tunability. Pulses with time duration as short as 170 ns were demonstrated at the minimum repetition rate of 5 Hz with an energy of 3.2 mJ (corresponding to a peak power of 19 kW). A wavelength tunability range from 1905 nm to 1990 nm has been observed. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.