Tm:KY1-x-yGdxLuy(WO4)2 planar waveguide laser passively Q-switched by single-walled carbon nanotubes.

Identifier:  PC:3313

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/PC3313

Authors:  Mateos, X.; Kifle, E; Loiko, P; Choi, S.; Bae, J. E.; Rotermund, F.; Aguiló, M.; Díaz, F.; Griebner, U.; Petrov, V.

Abstract:
A Tm3+ monoclinic double tungstate planar waveguide laser is passively Qswitched (PQS) by a saturable absorber (SA) based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) randomly oriented in a polymer film. The laser is based on a 18 ¿m-thick 5 at.% Tm:KY1-x-yGdxLuy(WO4)2 active layer grown on an undoped (010)-oriented KY(WO4)2 substrate by liquid phase epitaxy with determined propagation losses 0.7 ± 0.2 dB/cm. The PQS laser generated a maximum average output power of 45.6 mW at 1.8354 ¿m with a slope efficiency of 22.5%. Stable 83-ns-long laser pulses with an energy of 33 nJ were achieved at a repetition rate of 1.39 MHz. The use of SWCNTs as SA is promising for generation of sub-100 ns pulses in such waveguide lasers at ~2 ¿m.