Laser diode end pumped accousto-optical Q-switched Nd:YVO４ laser with high power and high slope efficiency

A high average output power， high slope efficiency acousto-optical Q-switched 1 064 nm laser is reported with a laser diode (LD) endpumped Nd:YVO4 double-bonded crystal scheme. With the proper estimation of thermal lensing effects under intense pumping, the mode matching and thermally stable cavity parameters are discussed and optimized, and a stable high-power highslope efficiency output is obtained. At the highest repetition rate of 50 kHz and pump power of 46.8 W, a maximum average output power of 17.6 W is achieved with optical conversion efficiency of 37.6%, slope efficiency of 70.1% and pulse width of 513 ns. At the lowest repetition rate of 10 kHz, a maximum single pulse energy of 0.91 mJ and peak power of 46.2 kW are measured with pulse width of 19.8 ns.