Laser characteristics of LD end-pumped CW and Q-switched Tm:LuYAG laser

Abstract Laser characteristics of LD end-pumped continuous wave (CW) and Q-switched Tm:LuYAG laser are reported. Under a pump power of 15 W, a maximum CW output power of 3.7 W is obtained, with the slope efficiency of 54.6%. For Q-switched operation, a maximum single pulse energy of 3.07 mJ and pulse width of 100 ns is achieved at repetition rate of 100 Hz and when the pump power is 9.12 W, corresponding to the slope efficiency of 27.05%. The output center wavelength of Tm:LuYAG laser is 2019.94 nm. The beam quality factors M2 are 1.24 and 1.28 in the x and y directions respectively.