Abstract

The new laser material Nd:LSB [Nd:LaSc₃(BO₃)₄] has several interesting characteristics as compared to standard Nd³⁺-doped materials like YAG and YLF.^1,2 It has a broad absorption bandwidth (3 nm), a short absorption length (110 µm for a 25% doping), and low internal losses—features that are important for efficient single-frequency operation of a microchip laser and for diode pumping. The broad gain bandwidth of 4 nm allows, in principle, for mode locking with sub-picosecond pulses with potentially high output power. By using an antiresonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber_3,4 (A-FPSA), we demonstrated both the passive Q-switching of a 400-µm-thick microchip laser and the passive mode locking of a Brewster-cut crystal in a standard 240-MHz cavity.

© 1995 Optical Society of America