High-power continuous wave and passively Q-switched laser operations of a Nd:GGG crystal

Abstract

We report on the continuous wave (CW) and passive Q-switching performance of a high-power diode-pumped Nd:GGG laser. A CW output power of 7.20 W was obtained under an absorbed pump power of 14.97 W, which gives a slop efficiency of 52.7%. With a Cr 4+ doped yttrium aluminum garnet crystal as the saturable absorber, the shortest passively Q-switched pulse width, largest pulse energy, and highest peak power achieved were 7.7 ns, 126.25 μJ, and 15.5 kW, respectively.