Efficient degenerate four-wave mixing in a diode-pumped microchip Nd:YVO_4 amplifier

Abstract

The process of saturable-gain degenerate four-wave mixing in a diode-pumped microchip Nd:YVO(4) amplifier is investigated. To enhance the efficiency of the interaction, multipass geometries are employed in which the weak signal beam and therefore the conjugate beam experience several passes in the gain medium. Degenerate fourwave mixing reflectivities as high as R = 10% and R = 170% have been obtained experimentally for 130-W diode pumping with two-pass and four-pass geometries, respectively. Finally, the imaging capabilities of the volume population hologram written in the Nd:YVO(4) amplifier are demonstrated.