Diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 green laser with a periodically poled KTP and Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber

A diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 green laser with a periodically poled KTP and Cr^4+:YAG saturable absorber is realized. The dependences of pulse repetition rate, pulse energy, pulse width, and peak power on incident pump power are measured for the generated green-light pulses. A rate-equation model is introduced to theoretically analyze the results obtained in the experiment, in which the spatial distribution of the intracavity photon density is taken into account. The numerical solutions of the rate equations agree with the experimental results.