Long pulse vanadate laser
View Patent ↗A diode-pumped solid-state laser has been invented that provides long Q-switched pulses at high repetition rate with high stability. The laser incorporates Nd:YVO 4 as the gain medium.
1. A laser, comprising:
an output coupler with a reflectivity of at least 90%, and a high reflector that define a resonator;
a Nd:YVO 4 gain medium positioned in the resonator;
a Q-switch coupled to the resonator; and
a diode pump source that produces a pump beam incident on the gain medium, the resonator generating an output beam with pulses greater than 35 nsec with a corresponding repetition rate greater than about 25 kHz, wherein the output beam has an RMS noise less than about 5%.
2. The laser of claim 1 , wherein the output beam has pulses that are longer than 50 nsec with a corresponding repetition rate higher than 50 kHz.
3. The laser of claim 1 , wherein the output beam has a TEM00 mode.
4. The laser of claim 1 , wherein the cavity is shorter than 20 cm.
5. The laser of claim 1 , wherein the pulse duration increases as a function of the repetition rate at a rate of about 0.5 ns/Hz.
6. A laser, comprising:
an output coupler with a reflectivity of at least 90%, and a high reflector that define a resonator;
a Nd:YVO 4 gain medium positioned in the resonator;
a Q-switch coupled to the resonator; and
a diode pump source that produces a pump beam incident on the gain medium, the resonator generating an output beam with pulse duration of at least 35 nsec and with an RMS noise less than 5%.
7. The laser of claim 6 , wherein the output beam has pulses that are longer than 35 nsec with a corresponding rate higher than 25 kHz.
8. The laser of claim 6 , wherein the output beam has pulses that are longer than 50 nsec with a corresponding rate higher than 50 kHz.
9. The laser of claim 6 , wherein the output beam has a TEM00 mode.
10. The laser of claim 6 , wherein the cavity is shorter than about 20 cm.
11. The laser of claim 6 , wherein the pulse duration increases as a function of the repetition rate at a rate of about 0.5 ns/Hz.
12. A laser, comprising:
an output coupler and a high reflector that define a resonator with a length of less than about 20 cm;
a Nd:YVO 4 gain medium positioned in the resonator;
a Q-switch coupled to the resonator; and
a diode pump source that produces a pump beam incident on the gain medium, the resonator generating an output beam with pulses of greater than 35 nsec at a corresponding repetition rate of at least 25 kHz.
13. The laser of claim 12 , wherein the output beam has an RMS noise less than 5%.
14. The laser of claim 12 , wherein the output beam has pulses that are longer than 50 nsec with a corresponding rate higher than 50 kHz.
15. The laser of claim 12 , wherein the output beam has a TEM00 mode.
16. The laser of claim 12 , wherein the pulse duration increases as a function of the repetition rate at a rate of about 0.5 ns/Hz.
17. The laser of claim 12 , wherein the Q-switch is an acousto-optic Q-switch.
18. A method of producing a pulsed laser output, comprising:
providing a laser that includes a Nd:YVO 4 gain medium and a Q-switch;
pumping the laser with a diode pump beam; and
producing an output beam with pulses of at least 35 nsec at a corresponding repetition rate of at least 25 kHz and with an RMS noise at less than about 5%.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the output beam has pulses that are longer than 50 nsec with a corresponding rate higher than 50 kHz.
20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the output beam provides a texturing on a surface of a hard disk for a computer hard drive.
21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the output beam has a TEM00 mode.
22. The method of claim 18 , wherein the Q-switch is an acousto-optic Q-switch.
23. The method of claim 18 , wherein the pulse duration increases as a function of the repetition rate at a rate of about 0.5 ns/Hz.
24. A method of producing a laser output, comprising:
providing a laser that includes a Nd:YVO 4 gain medium and a Q-switch;
pumping the laser with a diode pump beam; and
producing an output beam with pulses of at least 35 nsec and with an RMS noise of less than 5%.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein the output beam provides a texturing on a surface of a hard disk for a computer hard drive.
26. The laser of claim 24 , wherein the output beam has a TEM00 mode.
27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the repetition rate corresponding to 35 ns pulse duration is between 20 and 25 kHz.
28. The method of claim 24 , wherein the cavity is shorter than about 20 cm.
29. The method of claim 24 , wherein the repetition rate corresponding to the 35 ns pulse duration is between 20 and 25 kHz.
30. The method of claim 24 , wherein the pulse duration increases as a function of the repetition rate at a rate of about 0.5 ns/Hz.
31. The method of claim 24 , wherein the output beam has pulses that are 50 ns long with a corresponding repetition rate of 50 kHz.