Diode-pumped doubly passively Q-switched Nd:LuVO4 laser with Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber and GaAs output coupler

A diode‐pumped doubly passively Q‐switched Nd:LuVO4 laser with Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber and GaAs output coupler is realized. This laser can generate a shorter and more symmetric pulse profile when compared with pure GaAs. By using two Cr4+:YAG saturable absorbers with different small‐signal transmissions T0 = 0.71 and T0 = 0.81, the maximum average output power are 1.15 W and 1.31 W at the incident pump power of 11.23 W, corresponding to optical conversion efficiencies of 10.2% and 11.7%. At the same incident pump power, the minimum pulse widths of 4.18 ns and 5.42 ns can be obtained at T0 = 0.71 and T0 = 0.81, respectively. The pulse repetition rate and the single‐pulse peak power of the laser are also measured. (© 2009 by Astro Ltd., Published exclusively by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA)