Diode‐pumped continuous wave operation and passively Q‐switched performances of a Nd:Sc2SiO5 laser crystal at 1.08 microns

Diode pumped continuous wave operation and passively Q-switched performances of a Nd:Sc2SiO5 laser crystal at 1.08 microns have been demonstrated. A maximum continuous wave average output power up to 1.86 W has been obtained, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 20.7% and a slope efficiency of 30.4% with respect to the absorbed pump power. With a Cr4+:YAG wafer used as the saturable absorber, a passively Q-switched Nd:Sc2SiO5 laser generated a pulse as short as 22.5 ns at a repetition rate of 20 kHz. The maximum pulse energy of 44.8 μJ was achieved, corresponding to a maximum pulse peak power of 1.66 kW.