Numerical simulation of a laser with a Q-switched cavity for production of ultrashort pulses

A theoretical model was developed to calculate lasing modes for giant pulses in solid-state lasers with Q-switched cavities. The lasing process begins with steady-state mode locking. Then, when a control pulse is fed to the cavity electro-optic modulator, the light propagating in the cavity is amplified. When the laser pulse reaches maximum energy, the cavity opens, producing a single ultrashort pulse. Simulations performed using a commercial 50 W Nd:YAG solid-state CW laser diode pump module indicated that, when the driver parameters for the electro-optical modulator are optimized, the cavity switching mode can be used for high-efficiency extraction of almost all the energy (up to 20 mJ) stored in the laser medium in steady-state mode in the form of a single pulse with a duration in the hundreds of picoseconds.