DIODE-PUMPED PASSIVELY Q-SWITCHED SELF-FREQUENCY-DOUBLING ND-YAB LASER

We report on a diode-pumped 531-nm self-frequency-doubling Nd:YAB lase r passively Q switched by a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber. Pumped by 1.4 W of 807-nm GaAlAs diode laser radiation, the Nd:YAB laser system gen erates 5.6-ns-long TEM00 light pulses with an energy of 1.0 mu J at a repetition rate of 45 kHz. The experimental data are compared with the results of a numerical analysis based on rate equations that consider the optical properties of the Nd:YAB crystal and of the Cr4+:YAG satu rable absorber. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America [S0740-3224(97)008 12-6].