Short pulse, high-repetition rate, passively Q-switched Er:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser at 1.6 microns

Abstract

We have demonstrated a continuously pumped, passively Q-switched, 1617 nm Er:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) laser oscillator with a pulse width of just under 7 ns, a pulse repetition frequency of about 4 kHz, and an output power of 0.9 W. The oscillator was pumped using an Er:fiber laser at 1534 nm, and Q switched using a Cr2+:ZnSe saturable absorber. The Er:YAG laser is useful either stand-alone, or as the master oscillator in a master-oscillator-power-amplifier architecture.