Abstract

We demonstrate a Nd:LaSc₃(BO₃)₄ (Nd: LSB) microchip laser passively Q-switched by an antiresonant Fabry-Perot saturable absorber (A-FPSA),¹ and have achieved the shortest reported pulses from a passively Q-switched solid-state laser (Fig. 1). We measured single-frequency, TEM₀₀, 180-ps FWHM pulses with 0.1-μJ pulse energy at a repetition rate of 110 kHz, resulting in a peak power of approximately 500 W at an average power of 11 mW. With diodepumping we achieved similar performance with pulses as short as 200 ps.

© 1996 Optical Society of America