Passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 waveguide laser using graphene as a saturable absorber

We report on passively Q-switched lasers in femtosecond laser written waveguide in Nd:YVO4 crystal. Using graphene as a saturable absorber, passively Q-switched waveguide laser operations are achieved along both TE and TM polarizations with single modal profiles. Furthermore, all-angle linear light pump was utilized to investigate the thorough information of the polarization effects of the laser, showing that the optimum polarization for laser generation is TE. The maximum average output power is estimated to be 129 mW with 12.2% slope efficiency, corresponding to single-pulse energy of 8.1 nJ, pulse duration of 25.0 ns and repetition rate of 16.3 MHz. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.