PRESENTATION OF A NEW AND SIMPLE TECHNIQUE OF Q-SWITCHING WITH A LISRALF(6)CR3+ OSCILLATOR

A new technique of Q-switching is presented which is characterized by the fact that no additional switch (Pockels cell, saturable absorber, etc.) is required in the resonator. It can be shown that the effective ness of the switching strongly depends on the resonator geometry, the position of the laser medium in the resonator and the features of the laser medium itself: Using a near-hemispherical resonator including a LiSrAlF6:Cr3+ rod which is located pretty close to the curved mirror w e obtained laser pulses with energies of 60 mJ and widths of about 200 ns. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.