Open AccessEfficient high repetition rate electro-optic Q-switched laser with an optically active langasite crystal
Author(s) -
Shihui Ma,
Haohai Yu,
Huaijin Zhang,
Xing Han,
Qingming Lu,
Chunchi Ma,
Robert I. Boughton,
Jing Wang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/srep30517
Subject(s) - laser , birefringence , materials science , q switching , optics , crystal (programming language) , repetition (rhetorical device) , polarization (electrochemistry) , optoelectronics , computer science , physics , chemistry , programming language , linguistics , philosophy
With an optically active langasite (LGS) crystal as the electro-optic Q-switch, we demonstrate an efficient Q-switched laser with a repetition rate of 200 kHz. Based on the theoretical analysis of the interaction between optical activity and electro-optic property, the optical activity of the crystal has no influence on the birefringence during Q-switching if the quarter wave plate used was rotated to align with the polarization direction. With a Nd:LuVO 4 crystal possessing a large emission cross-section and a short fluorescence lifetime as the gain medium, a stable LGS Q-switched laser was designed with average output power of 4.39 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 29.4% and with a minimum pulse width of 5.1 ns. This work represents the highest repetition rate achieved so far in a LGS Q-switched laser and it can provide a practical Q-switched laser with a tunable high repetition rates for many applications, such as materials processing, laser ranging, medicine, military applications, biomacromolecule materials, remote sensing, etc.