Abstract

A 14 mm length cavity laser including the 690 µm thick domain-controlled optical Q-switch composed of a transparent magnetic garnet epitaxially grown on a garnet substrate, a pair of three turn Helmholtz coils, and the pulse magnetic field generator was demonstrated. The magnetic domain controlled the Q factor in the cavity, resulting in the generation of Q-switching. The peak power of ~2 kW, the repetition rate of 1 kHz, the pulse width of ~30 ns were shown by actively controlled Q-switched laser used. The magnetic, optical, and magnetooptical response of the garnet film used was characterized and pulse field generator was designed with the finite element method for further miniaturization of the laser system. Such a short cavity length using active Q switch has not been reported so far.

© 2016 Optical Society of America