Cylindrical vector-polarized vortex pulses from a passively Q-switched laser are demonstrated. Pump radiation reshaped into a size-controlled annular profile via circular Dammann grating produces an efficient excitation of the LG01 mode. The YAG / Nd : YAG / Cr4 + : YAG composite crystal structure is found to reduce the Q-switching threshold and significantly suppress thermal damage, thus allowing ability to obtain a passively Q-switched pulse. The threshold pumping power is found to be 4.35 W, with a slope efficiency of 23.1%. A maximum peak power of 3.24 kW, maximum pulse energy of 53.46 μJ, pulse width of 17.5 ns, and repetition rate of 2.695 kHz are obtained. Furthermore, a radially polarized output with a polarization degree of 88.9% is confirmed. Finally, mode and polarization tuning are also discussed.
Vortex light is used widely in quantum entanglement, optical communication, high-resolution imaging, optical detection, optical manipulation, and many other fields. In practical applications, stable and adjustable vortex light sources are needed for applying the orthogonal characteristics of vortex light with different orders. We demonstrate a tunable vortex laser based on an intra-cavity aspheric lens. By adjusting the position of the lens and the output coupler, several orders of vortex beams have been obtained at the same pump power. The spatial matching between the pump light and the modes in the cavity determines the preferentially oscillatory transverse mode. Furthermore, we compare the mode selection mechanisms in previous researches on vortex lasers, that is, the mode change caused by the thermal lens effect, and the dual feedback mechanism of the spherical lens with appreciable spherical aberration, and discuss the intrinsic similarity of these methods.
By introducing a circular Dammann grating (CDG) into the pump unit, we demonstrated an end-pumped Nd:YAG laser that emitted a vortex and first-order LG mode with high laser efficiency and high power. In our scheme, the CDG was used to reshape the pumping light into an annular profile, and the adaptation of it was realized easily by inserting it into the pump unit of a conventional end-pumped solid-state laser; the laser cavity was simple, compact, and consisted of only a laser crystal and an output coupler. The beam power of this laser reached 1.86 W at an absorbed pump power of 6.38 W with a slope efficiency of 34.5%.
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