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A high-power continuous-wave (CW) laser-diode (LD) pumped acousto-optic Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser is presented. A short pulse at 1064 nm is obtained. With a repetition rate of 50 kHz, a maximum average output power of 5.72 W is achieved. The optical-conversion efficiency and the slope efficiency are 28% and 32.4%, respectively. At the repetition rate of 10 kHz and the pulse width of 16.3 ns, the maximum single-pulse energy of 286 μJ and the peak power of 13 kW are acquired. The laser can be used as a signal source for free-space optical communication. The output signal agrees well with the modulate signal. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 42: 281–283, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20278

Theoretical and experimental results on the self-starting passive mode-locked Yb fiber-ring laser generating short pulse are reported. The relations between the laser-cavity parameters and mode-locked pulse characteristics are discussed. 980-nm LD-pumped laser is used as the pump source and high-concentration Yb 3 + -doped fiber is adopted as the gain medium. Using the nonlinear polarization rotation (NPR) effect of the fiber, a self-starting stable mode-locked pulse is obtained, with a center wavelength of 1046 nm, a 3-dB bandwidth of 6.01 nm, and a 20-dB bandwidth of 16 nm. The mode-locked threshold power is 150 mW and output power is 26 mW with a 20-MHz repetition rate.