A thermally-insensitive passively Q-switched Cr4+:YAG/Nd:YAG laser

A passively Q-switched laser with Cr4+:YAG/Nd:YAG composite crystal using a corner cube prism cavity has been realized, in which the corner cube prism is the key element as it aids the compensation of the thermal lens effect of laser crystal. Compared with plane-plane mirror cavities under the same conditions, the stability of the laser performance using the corner cube prism cavity was improved remarkably over temperatures ranging from -40 to 65 degrees C. The decrease of Nd:YAG stimulated emission cross section with temperature was considered to be the main reason for the increase of average output pulse energy under the same cycle for the two different cavities when the ambient temperature changed -40 to 65 degrees C. The mode properties produced by the prism cavity were analyzed, and the theoretical results were verified by experimental observations. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.