Passively Q-switched and mode-locked 1.34-μm Nd:YAG laser with V3+:YAG saturable absorber

By using vanadium-ion-doped YAG crystal (V3+:YAG) as a saturable absorber, a xenon-lamp-pumped passively Q-switched and mode-locked (QML) Nd:YAG laser at 1.34 mu m is realized in a straight cavity. About 90% modulation depth of mode locking of the pulse is obtained. The pulse energy and the pulse width of the QML laser are measured. Under the plane-wave approximation, considering the pump rate and the stimulated radiation lifetime of the active medium as well as the excited-state lifetime of the saturable absorber, modified coupled rate equations are introduced to reconstruct the xenon-lamp-pumped passively QML laser with V3+:YAG. By solving the equations numerically, the theoretical evaluations are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the model under the plane-wave approximation is accurate enough to describe the dynamical process of xenon-lamp-pumped passively QML laser with V3+:YAG. (c) 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3522643]