HIGH-POWER DIODE-PUMPED PICOSECOND ND3+YVO4 LASER

A diode-pumped Nd3+:YVO4 laser passively mode locked by a nonlinear mi rror based on second-harmonic generation has been developed. Pumping w ith a fiber-coupled 10-W diode array, we generated nearly diffraction limited, linearly polarized 11-ps pulses at 1064 nm, with average powe r of 2.7 W at a 150-MHz repetition rate. Pulses as short as 7.9 ps wer e measured with reduced output power (1.35 W) by optimal focusing in t he nonlinear crystal. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.