OCIS codes: 140.3580, 140.3540, 140.3500, 140.3070International audienceWe demonstrated laser operation of a passively Q-switched diode-pumped Er:YAG solid-state laser emitting at 1645 or 1617 nm depending on the initial transmission of the Cr:ZnSe saturable absorber. The crystal emitted up to 10 W at 1645 nm and up to 8 W at 1617 nm in CW mode while pumped with 65 W of incident pump power at 1533 nm. In passive Q-switched mode with 40 W of incident power, a Cr:ZnSe saturable absorber with initial transmission of 85% led to 330 μJ pulse energy, 61 ns pulse duration at a repetition rate of 1460 Hz at 1645 nm. An 80% initial transmission Cr:ZnSe sample led to 510 μJ energy pulses, 41 ns pulse duration at a repetition rate of 820 Hz with a central wavelength change from 1645 to 1617 nm. This is the first reported passively Q-switched diode-pumped Er:YAG laser operating on the 4 I13∕2 → 4 I15∕2 transition

We report on a watt range laser system generating picosecond pulses using electro-optical modulation of a 1030 nm single frequency low noise laser diode. Its repetition rate is continuously tunable between 11 and 18 GHz. Over this range, output spectra and pulse characteristics are measured and compared with a numerical simulation. Finally, amplitude and residual phase noise measurements of the source are also presented.

We demonstrated laser operation of a Er:YAG single crystal fiber at 1617 nm. Pumped on both sides by a laser diode at 1532 nm, a 600 µm diameter-60 mm long-single crystal fiber produced an output power of 5.5 W once the wavelength 1617 nm was selected by an intracavity etalon. In Q-switched operation with an acousto-optic modulator, the laser produced an energy of 0.5 mJ at 100 Hz repetition rate with a pulse duration of 28 ns. The Watt level in average power was achieved for a repetition rate of 3 kHz with a pulse duration maintained around 30 ns