Intracavity frequency doubling of an active Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with 2.25W output power at 473nm

Abstract: An active Q-switched diode-end-pumped Nd:YAG laser is reported with 2.9W output power on the 4 F 3/2 → 4 I 9/2 transitions at a pump power of 24W. With intracavity frequency doubling using a 20-mm-long LBO, a maximum blue output power of 2.25W is achieved at a repetition rate of 23kHz. The conversion efficiency from the corresponding Q-switched fundamental output to blue output is 96%. The peak power of the Q-switched blue pulse is up to 610W with 160ns pulse width. The fluctuation of the blue output power is less than 4.0% at the maximum output power. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]