Q switching of a diode-pumped Nd:YVO/sub 4/ laser using a quadrupole electro-optic deflector

Summary form only given. The increasing demand for cheap and compact pulsed solid-state lasers has led to a number of recent developments in actively and passively Q-switched miniature lasers. Active Q switching has the advantage over passive techniques of greater pulse management, although this is usually at the expense of greater complexity. We report on a new, temperature-independent, low-loss Q switch based on electro-optic deflection of the laser beam. No additional intracavity elements other than the deflector are required to Q switch the laser. The device produces a deflection by the linear electric-field gradient across the aperture of the device through the application of a potential difference between cylindrically shaped electrodes. For a suitably chosen direction in an electro-optic material, this gradient in electric field induces a linear gradient in refractive index, which acts to deflect the beam by an amount dependent on the voltage applied.