New type of diode-pumped cavity-dumping laser

By combining the techniques of AO (acousto-optic) Q-switching and EO (electro-optic) cavity-dumping, a new type of diode-pumped nanosecond pulsed laser was proposed for the first time. The Q- switched pulses at 1.06micrometers with a peak power of 5.02kW and a pulse width 3.1ns pumped a 1W laser diode on the Nd:YVO 4 microchip at the 1kHz repetition rate were obtained. The temporal characteristics of the pulses were analyzed numerically. The experiment results are shown to be in good agreement with theoretical predictions.