A comprehensive study of Nd:YAG, Nd:YAlO3, Nd:YVO4 and Nd:YGdVO4 lasers operating at wavelengths of 0.9 and 1.3 μm. Part 2: passively mode locked-operation

This paper reports on the generation of picosecond (ps) laser pulses by self-phase-adjusting additive-pulse-mode-locking (PSA) at wavelengths of 0.9 and 1.3 μm. The main objective of this work was to investigate and compare the characteristic optical properties of ps lasers based on different Nd-doped laser crystals like Nd:YAG, Nd:YAlO3, Nd:YVO4 and Nd:GdVO4. As a result of these investigations a mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser for example, generated, ps pulses at 1.3 μm with a duration of 7 ps, a repetition rate of 160 MHz and an average power of 4.7 W. At 0.9 μm pulses with a duration of 1.9 ps were obtained at a repetition rate of 158 MHz and an average power of 2.8 W.