Continuous-wave and passively Q-switched laser of Nd:LGGG crystal at 0.93 mu m

We demonstrated a diode end-pumped continuouswave (CW) and passively Q-switched (PQS) dual-wavelength laser at about 0.93 mu m with Nd:(LuxGd1x)3Ga5O12 (Nd:LGGG) crystal for the first time. The maximum CW output power of 244 mW was obtained with the optical-optical conversion efficiency of 6.2% and the slope efficiency of 8.1%, respectively. The PQS performance was obtained with V3+:YAG crystal as the saturable absorber. The shortest pulse width was achieved tobe 259 ns with the pulse repetition rate of 130 kHz. The laser spectrum was found to be dual-wavelength with respective wavelength of 933.0 and 936.8 nm for both CW and passive Q-switching regime. (C) 2012 by Astro Ltd., Published exclusively by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA)