Continuous-wave operation at 1386 nm in a diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser

Abstract

We report a diode-end-pumped continuous wave (cw) Nd:YVO4 laser operation at 1386 nm. A maximum output power of 305 mW is achieved at an incident pump power of 4.24 W, achieving a slope efficiency of 13.9%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that cw operation at this transition of Nd:YVO4 crystal is reported. By using the experimentally measured threshold data, the stimulated-emission cross-section of this gain medium at 1386 nm transition is determined to be 3x10- 19cm2. In addition, simultaneous cw operation at 1342 nm and 1386 nm is also observed.