Control of giant pulse duration in neodymium minilasers with controllable cavity length and pulsed pumping

In a solid-state laser incident on a LiNdP4O12 crystal, pumped by a short light pulse, giant pulse oscillation without the use of resonator Q switching is realized. Tuning of the oscillation pulse duration from 2 up to 20 ns is achieved by changing the cavity length from 24 to 3 mm, respectively. Our analysis of this mode of laser radiation is made on the basis of the rate equations. The factors influencing oscillation pulse duration are investigated. It is shown that in a limiting case the minimal value of the pulse duration is limited by only the rate of excitation transfer from the pumping band to the metastable level.