A Diode-Pumped Nd:LaMgAl11O19 Laser Operating at 1.38 μm Band

We demonstrate a diode-pumped Nd:LaMgAl11O19 laser operating at 1.38 μm band and measure for continuous-wave (CW) laser operation the power from the output couplers (OCs) of different transmittance T. With an absorbed pump power of 6.2 W, we obtain a maximum output power of 570 mW for the OC with T = 4%. For Q-switched operation with this OC, we investigate and analyze laser performance characteristics, including the average output power, optical spectra, frequency repetition rate, pulse width, single pulse energy, and pulse peak power. With increasing absorbed pump power, the average output power, frequency repetition rate, single pulse energy, and pulse peak power gradually increase, whereas the pulse width gradually decreases until finally becomes stable. Under an absorbed pump power of 4.3 W, a maximum average output power of 200 mW and a shortest pulse width of 5.1 μs are achieved. For both CW and Q-switched operations, the laser oscillates simultaneously at two wavelengths of about 1376 and 1378 nm.