All-solid-state passively Q-switched lasers have advantages that include simple structure, high peak power, and short sub-nanosecond pulse width. Potentially, these can be applied in multiple settings, such as miniature light sources, laser medical treatment, remote sensing, precision processing. Cr4+:YAG crystal is an ideal Q-switch material for all-solid-state owing to its thermal conductivit...

A compact, passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser utilizing a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber, is end-pumped by the focused emission from an 804 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array. By changing the VCSEL operating current, we demonstrated 2x adjustability in the laser output pulse energy, from 9 mJ to 18 mJ. This energy variation was attributed to changes in the angular distribution ...

A passively switched Ho(3+), Pr(3+) codoped fluoride fiber laser using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) is demonstrated. Q-switching and partial mode-locking were observed with the output power produced at a slope efficiency of 24% with respect to the absorbed pump power. The partially mode-locked 2.87 μm pulses operated at a repetition rate of 27.1 MHz with an average power of...

Femtosecond and picosecond operating regimes of an argon-ion-pumped Cr(3+):LiSrAlF(6) laser, passively mode locked using a saturable absorber, are described. At low absorber concentrations, self-starting cw mode locking is demonstrated, which yields pulses as short as 33 fs after extracavity prism compensation. At higher concentrations, both cw mode-locked and Q-switched mode-locked operation i...