We have proposed a novel approach to realize a high-energy ultrafast optical parametric oscillator (OPO) by intracavity pumping in a regenerative amplifier. In this way, we have experimentally demonstrated an unprecedented pulse energy of 30.5 μJ from a 1.5-μm singly resonant synchronously pumped OPO at a pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz with a pulse width of 7.0 ps. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest pulse energy from an ultrafast laser OPO.
A pulse width adjustable 1064 nm Q-switched cavity dumped Nd:YVO laser was realized for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, by rotating an intracavity quarter-wave plate (QWP) and a Pockels cell (PC). The pulse width adjustment range was 4.8-7.8 ns with a constant output power of 3.6 W, and it reached 4.8-13.5 ns for a lower output power of 1.3 W. The pulse width was dependent mostly on the rotating angle of the QWP and PC, but independent of the gain and pulse repetition rate.
A high-energy burst-mode picosecond pulsed laser at 1.5 µm was demonstrated based on an optical parametric oscillator. When the pulse repetition rate of the burst was set at 10 and 20 kHz respectively, both the temporal duration of the pulse-burst and the number of individual picosecond pulses in each burst continuously increase with an increase in absorbed pump power. Under an absorbed pump power of 12.7 W, a maximum burst energy of 50.5 µJ was achieved at a repetition of 10 kHz, and the burst pulse duration was 320 ns with 31 individual picosecond pulses per burst. Also, for a repetition rate of 20 kHz, the burst pulse duration was 260 ns containing 25 individual picosecond pulses with a burst energy of 21.4 µJ. The individual pulse width underneath the burst was about 7.8 ps. The beam quality factor was measured to be M2 = 1.74 at 10 kHz under a maximum absorbed pump power of 12.7 W. Such a burst-mode picosecond laser is important for material processing.
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