Search

We investigated the conditions for forming the single-frequency monopulse operation mode of the transversally diode pumped Yb,Er-phosphate glass laser with a passive Q-switch based on the Co2+:MgAl2O4 crystal. It was shown experimentally that the spectral selectivity that ensures the stable single-frequency operation for the Yb,Er-laser is achieved in the intracavity Fabry–Perot interferometer in the form of the totally reflecting mirror and nearest end surface of an active element with plane-parallel faces, as well as the polarization interference filter (PIF, Lyot filter). Meanwhile, the PIF created by an active element with thermally induced anisotropy and a polarizer in the form of a passive Q-switch plate, oriented at Brewster’s angle to the resonator axis, acts as a preliminary spectral selector. The maximum energy of the formed output laser pulses was 6 mJ with a duration of 20.2 ns, a repetition rate of 1 Hz, and a single-frequency lasing spectrum width of 41 MHz.

The temporal dynamics of diode-side-pumped Yb – Er laser, with a passive Co2+ : MgAl2O4 Q switch illuminated by a light beam (total fluence of 0.15 – 0.16 J cm−2) from a semiconductor pulsed module, is investigated. It is shown that, using this external illumination, one can change the lasing onset delay and the time jitter ΔT gi. The dependence of ΔT gi on the interval between the instant of switching the illumination module on and the lasing peak position t i has a minimum at |t i| ≈ 10 μs. The decrease in ΔT gi with a change in |t i| from 90 to 10 μs indicates that instant of lasing peak occurrence for the Yb – Er laser is partially controlled by the pulse from the highly stable semiconductor module. If |t i| < 10 μs, the enhanced luminescence fluence in the cavity of Yb – Er laser exceeds 0.16 J cm−2; the light beam from the module does not affect much the lasing process in the ytterbium – erbium laser; and, as a consequence, the time jitter recovers the initial value.