Ho:KY(WO 4 ) 2 thin-disk laser passively Q-switched by a GaSb-based SESAM

A Holmium thin-disk laser based on a 3 at.% Ho:KY(WO4)2 / KY(WO4)2 epitaxy and single-bounce pumping by a 1960 nm Tm-fiber laser is passively Q-switched with a GaSb-based quantum-well semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. It generates an average output power of 551 mW at 2056 nm with a slope efficiency of 44% (with respect to the absorbed pump power). The best pulse characteristics (energy and duration) are 4.1 μJ / 201 ns at a repetition rate of 135 kHz and the conversion efficiency with respect to the continuous-wave regime is as high as 93%.