Q-switched, TEM00-mode, diode-pumped Yb3+:YAG laser with extended tunability

The results of a comprehensive investigation of the Yb:YAG laser pumped by a single InGaAs laser diode bar stack with the maximum output peak power of 420 W at 940 nm are presented. The maximum laser output pulse energy in a free running multimode operation at a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz was 94 mJ/pulse at the pump pulse duration of 1 ms and pump pulse energy of 420 mJ. Tunability in a Q-switched regime was demonstrated in the wavelength range of 1023–1054 nm with the laser output bandwidth of 0.5 nm. This is to the best of our knowledge the widest tunability range obtained for the Q-switched, diode-pumped TEM00-mode Yb:YAG laser. The maximum Q-switched TEM00 laser output was 6.4 mJ/pulse at 1030 nm and 2.1 mJ/pulse at 1047 nm. The highest laser efficiency obtained in a free running operation was 29% with respect to the absorbed pump power and 22.3% with respect to the incident pump power. An advanced model of the laser performance has been developed and found to be in a good agreement with the obtained experimental results.