Open AccessEnhancement of stability and efficiency of a nonlinear mirror mode-locked Nd:YVO4 oscillator by an active Q-switch
Author(s) -
Prasanta Kumar Datta,
Sourabh Mukhopadhyay,
Susanta Kumar Das,
Luca Tartara,
Antonio Agnesi,
Vittorio Degiorgio
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/opex.12.004041
Subject(s) - optics , laser , envelope (radar) , materials science , mode locking , power (physics) , modulation (music) , q switching , pulse width modulation , physics , telecommunications , radar , quantum mechanics , computer science , acoustics
The stability and the peak power of a nonlinear-mirror mode-locked Nd:YVO(4) laser are significantly increased by the insertion of an acousto-optic modulator inside the laser cavity. The repetition rate for reliable operation can be varied in the range 35 kHz - 50 kHz. The laser generates the most intense and stable mode-locked pulses of width 9 ps lying underneath a Q-switched envelope of width 110 ns with a Q-switch modulation frequency of 38 kHz. For 10 W of pump power, a 224 times enhancement of peak power over that of cw mode-locking is obtained under reliable Q-switched and mode-locked operation.