Abstract
We report a low-cost cavity-dumped Cr:colquiriite laser for generating enhanced pulse energies. Four single-mode laser diodes were used to pump a Cr:LiSAF laser, which was mode locked with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. Cavity dumping at 10 kHz repetition rate, the laser generated pulses at , with 112 nJ pulse energies and of peak power, using only of incident pump power. At higher dumping rates of up to 1 MHz, reduced pulse energies of 62 nJ could be generated. Two-photon absorption in the saturable absorber mirror limits pulse durations, while Q-switching instabilities limit pulse energy extraction.
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