Study of output energy of Cr4+:YAG passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser: Using different setups

In this paper, an experimental study is presented for the Cr4+:YAG passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Obtaining the highest value of the output energy for Q-switched single pulse is the aim of this work. To attain this purpose, the different output resonators and some Cr4+:YAG crystals with different initial transmissions were used. We increased the single pulse energy of the output beam to more than 180 mJ and applied a simple theoretical model (the rate equations) for this passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, as well. The experimental results were compared with the numerical analysis of the theoretical rate equations. According to the obtained results of this work the output resonator and the initial transmission of Cr4+:YAG crystal plays an important role for obtaining the output energy of Q-switched laser. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.