Design of efficient high-power diode-end-pumped TEMoo Nd:YVO₄ laser

A systematic investigation on a series of Nd:YVO₄ crystals with different dopant concentrations is conducted to scale the diode-end-pumped laser performance to higher powers. The analysis reveals that lowering the dopant concentration linearly extends the fracture-limited pump power and the thermal shock parameter plays an important role in the estimation of the fracture-limited pump power. The thermal shock parameter in Nd:YVO₄ crystals has been determined from the laser experiments. Based on the analysis, we demonstrate a compact and efficient diode-end-pumped TEMoo laser with output power of 25.2-W for 52-W of incident pump power by use of a single YVO4 crystal with a Nd concentration of 0.3 at.%. In Q-switched operation 21-W of average power at a pulse repetition rate of 100 kHz and approximately 1.1-m pulse energy at a pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz were produced.