Abstract

Passive Q switching of a flash-lamp-pumped ruby laser has been demonstrated with a Dy²⁺:CaF₂ saturable absorber at room temperature. Typically a single Q-switched pulse of 4.5 mJ and 94 ns was observed. At 694 nm, the ground-state absorption cross section and the excited-state absorption cross section of the Dy²⁺:CaF₂ absorber were found to be 1.2 × 10⁻¹⁸ cm² and 0.9 × 10⁻¹⁸ cm², respectively, with a four-level slow-relaxing saturable-absorber model.

© 1994 Optical Society of America

Characteristics of ruby passive Q switching with a Dy²⁺:CaF₂ solid-state saturable absorber

Yen-Kuang Kuo and Milton Birnbaum
Appl. Opt. 34(30) 6829-6833 (1995)

Ho:CaF₂ solid-state saturable-absorber Q switch for the 2-μm Tm,Cr:Y₃Al₅O₁₂ laser

Yen-Kuang Kuo, Milton Birnbaum, Ferruh Unlu, and Man-Fang Huang
Appl. Opt. 35(15) 2576-2579 (1996)

Saturable absorber Co²⁺:MgAl₂O₄ crystal for Q switching of 1.34-µm Nd³⁺:YAlO₃ and 1.54-µm Er³⁺:glass lasers

Konstantin V. Yumashev
Appl. Opt. 38(30) 6343-6346 (1999)

Numerical study of passive Q switching of a tunable alexandrite laser with a Cr:Y₂SiO₅ solid-state saturable absorber

Yen-Kuang Kuo, Horng-Min Chen, and Yuni Chang
Appl. Opt. 40(9) 1362-1368 (2001)

Ho:YVO₄ solid-state saturable-absorber Q switch for a 2-μm Tm, Cr:Y₃Al₅O₁₂ laser

Yen-Kuang Kuo and Milton Birnbaum
Appl. Opt. 35(6) 881-884 (1996)