Characteristics of Transversely Diode-Pumped Nd:YAG Laser with Cr:YAG Passive Q-Switch Within Wide Temperature Range

The dependence of the initial transmission S 0 of a passive Q-switch based on a Cr 4 :YAG crystal on temperature T has been experimentally investigated. The initial transmission was shown to increase from 16.3 to 24.0% with temperature changes from –40 to 60°C. The resulting curve S 0 (T) approximated a straight line with a slope of 0.076%/degree. The energy of the generated pulses E of the Nd:YAG laser decreased at a constant pumping level from 100 to 90 mJ while the pulse length τ increased from 9.3 to 12.0 ns with an increase of T in the given interval. Numerical calculations of the E(T) and τ(T) curves agreed with the experimental data. The results made it possible to predict more accurately the results of temperature tests of compact diode-pumped neodymium lasers.