High power Er ⁺³ -Yb ⁺³ co-dopedglass waveguide <i>Q</i> -switched laser

Abstract

Using a Q-switched Er+3-Yb+3 co-doped glass waveguide laser, the authors have obtained 67 W peak power and 200 ns wide optical pulses with a pulse energy of 13.4 µJ for a 7 m long cavity at a 1 kHz repetition rate. The dependence of the pulsewidth on the cavity length has also been investigated, and indicated that integration of this laser in a 10 cm long cavity would provide 2 ns wide optical pulses with 7 kW peak power.