Wavelength-tunable, sub-picosecond pulses from a passively Q-switched microchip laser system

Opt Lett. 2013 Jul 15;38(14):2478-80. doi: 10.1364/OL.38.002478.

Abstract

We present a novel concept to generate sub-picosecond pulses from a passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 microchip laser system with an adjustable wavelength shift up to a few tens of nanometers around the original emission wavelength of 1064 nm. This concept comprises two stages: one that carries out a nonlinear compression of fiber-amplified microchip pulses and a subsequent stage in which the compressed pulses are coupled into a further waveguide structure followed by a bandpass filter. In a proof-of-principle experiment, pedestal-free 0.62 ps long pulses have been demonstrated with a wavelength shift to 1045 nm.