ABSTRACT
We report on the development of an efficient and simple picosecond diode-pumped solid-state laser source with a versatile repetition rate (typically 1 Hz-1 MHz) for material processing applications. The laser source is based on a 4 MHz repetition rate mode-locked oscillator and a passive 3D multipass amplifier both based on Nd:YVO(4) crystals. Micromachining experiments were performed to study the influence of pulse energy on the machining quality for Al, Cu, paper, and glass.
ABSTRACT
We have developed a Cr:LiSrGaF(6) laser that produces, in Q -switched operation, four times as much energy (12 microJ at 10 kHz) as a Cr:LiSrAlF(6) laser under the same conditions of pumping (four red diodes emitting 400 mW). By using a theoretical model for small-signal gain calculations, we show that these better performances are mainly attributable to the fact that thermal quenching of fluorescence is lower in Cr:LiSrGaF(6) than in Cr:LiSrAlF(6).
ABSTRACT
We measured small-signal gain in a cw diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF and showed that upconversion and thermal quenching of fluorescence strongly limit small-signal gain. Then we optimized the gain in a Cr:LiSAF laser pumped by two 400-mW red diodes. In Q-switched operation, this laser produced tunable nanosecond pulses between 800 and 900 nm. At 850 nm, we obtained 230-ns pulses with an energy of 6.5 microJ at a repetition rate of 10 kHz.
ABSTRACT
We describe a diode-pumped cw Cr(3+):LiSrAlF(6) laser that produces 190-mW cw output at 860 nm. By frequency doubling in a KNbO(3) crystal we generate 13 mW of second-harmonic light tunable from 427 to 443 nm.
ABSTRACT
We describe a diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr(3+):LiSrAlF(6) laser that produces 50 mW of 70-fs pulses in the 820-890-nm range when pumped by two red diodes of 400 mW each. By using a lower-transmission output coupler we have demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge a self-starting regime with an output power of 10 mW and 55-fs pulses.
