Semiconductor saturable absorber Q-switching of a holmium micro-laser

Identifier:  PC:2649

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/PC2649

Authors:  Mateos, X.; Lan, R.; Wang, Y.; Serres, J.M.; Loiko, P.; Li, J.; Pan, Y.; Griebner, U.; Petrov, V.

Abstract:
We report on a Holmium micro-laser passively Q-switched by a semiconductor saturable absorber (SSA), for the first time to the best of our knowledge. It is based on a 1 at.% Ho:YAG ceramic with good energy storage capability and several commercial transmission-type SSAs with 0.24% modulation depth. Under in-band pumping by a Tm fiber laser at 1910 nm, the Ho micro-laser generated 450 mW at 2089 nm with 37% slope efficiency. Stable 89 ns, 3.2 ¿J pulses are achieved at a repetition rate of 141 kHz. Further shortening of the laser pulses is feasible with the increase of the modulation depth of the SSA while power scaling may lead to Q-switching at MHz-range repetition rates.