Passively Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YVO/sub 4/ laser at 1.34 /spl mu/m by V:YAG saturable absorber

Summary form only given. We report on what is to our knowledge the first diode-pumped Nd:YVO/sub 4/ laser Q-switched and mode-locked by V.YAG at 1340 nm. We applied a numerical model describing mode-locking and Q-switching regimes to resonators including V:YAG saturable absorber crystals and compared its prediction with the experimental results. We show that moderately long resonators (>0.8 m) lead to the generation of extended microsecond trains of fully-mode-locked subnanosecond pulses, in qualitative agreement with the predicted transition toward cw mode-locking above some critical ratio between resonator round trip time and absorber recovery time. A 10-W fiber coupled laser diode array emitting at 808 nm was used to pump longitudinally a 5-mm long 0.5% doped Nd:YVO crystal, placed at one end of a Z-shaped resonator, with the V:YAG crystal (small-signal transmissivity /spl ap/89%) near the 90%-reflectivity output coupler.