Abstract

We present a side-pumped, passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with an average output power of 24 W and a pulse energy of 0.48 μJ directly out of the oscillator. The pulse duration is 25 ps and the output beam is diffraction-limited. Stable, self-starting, passive mode locking without any Q-switching instabilities [1] is obtained using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) [2, 3]. Such lasers are interesting for numerous applications, particularly those involving nonlinear frequency conversion, for example RGB laser projection displays. Peak powers in the multi-kW regime facilitate efficient frequency conversion in a single pass through a nonlinear crystal, allowing for simple generation of visible and UV wavelengths.

© 2000 Optical Society of America