Compact low-voltage electro-optic Q-switch made of LiNbO₃

Abstract

This work presents a compact LiNbO3 (lithium niobate, LN) electro-optic (EO) Q-switch with a lower driving voltage than the conventional LN Q-switches. By using non-direct cuts of a certain crystallographic orientation, a LN crystal is used both as a quarter-wave plate (QWP) and a pockels cell in a laser cavity. Through theoretical calculations and experiments, we have determined the optimized crystal orientations with low quarter-wave voltages (QWV). A set of compact LN EO Q-switches were prepared and used successfully in the pulse-on mode in a Nd:YAG laser. The Q-switched laser outputs are comparable to those obtained by using a conventional Z-cut LN Q-switch with a QWP. The QWV of the Q-switch with the optimized crystal orientation is 600V lower than that of the Z-cut LN Q-switch.

Concurrent Passive Mode-Locked and Self- Q -Switched Operation in Laser Systems

“…The most popular device for either mode locking or cavity finesse modulation is a nonlinear transmission element (saturable absorber) that modulates the losses in the cavity according to the light intensity. A variety of such devices has been suggested and used successfully in laser designs [7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Passive mode locking produces pulses with durations from a few picoseconds to a few femtoseconds [14] with repetition rates typically in the mega-to gigahertz range, depending on the cavity round-trip time.…”

Layered Metallic Vanadium Disulfide for Doubly Q-Switched Tm:YAP Laser with EOM: Experimental and Theoretical Investigations

“…The electric field is along the x-or y-axis and the laser propagate along the z-axis so that the voltage can be reduced, in comparison with the longitudinal electro-optical modulation with a high electric field. It is worth mentioning that the low voltage and pulse-on mode can extend the lifetime of the EOM, considering the electrochemical degradation effects [36]. The λ/4 voltage of the LN crystal is expressed as follows [37]:…”

High-Quality Dry Etching of LiNbO3 Assisted by Proton Substitution through H2-Plasma Surface Treatment

“…Lithium Niobate (LiNbO 3 or LN) has proven to be the material of choice for a wide range of applications due to its exceptional piezoelectric, electro-acoustical, electro-optical, and non-linear optical properties [1]. The different crystallographic orientations of LN are heavily utilized for applications in surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) resonators [2], optical filters [3], optical sensors [4], modulators [5][6][7], transducers [8,9], optical waveguides [10,11], Q-switch lasers [12,13], oscillators [14], etc. For example, high temperature (1000 • C) annealing Ti-doped X cut LN can be utilized as an optical waveguide [15].…”