We present a study on a watt-level acousto-optically Q-switched Pr:YLF laser at three different repetition rates (10 kHz, 20 kHz, and 50 kHz) for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The corresponding average output powers and pulse widths were measured to be 1.14 W, 1.2 W, and 1.32 W, and 40 ns, 52 ns, and 80 ns, respectively. A maximum pulse energy of 0.11 mJ was obtained, corresponding to a peak power of up to 2.8 kW at a repetition rate of 10 kHz. The simulated dynamics of a fast Q-switched Pr:YLF laser is in agreement with the experiment. The laser’s ability to generate stable pulses with high peak power and short pulse width makes it highly desirable for various practical applications, such as laser machining and material processing.

We report continuous-wave deep red lasers at 696.6 and 698.6 nm in a Pr3+:YLF crystal pumped by an InGaN laser diode. A Lyot filter was inserted into the cavity as a birefringent filter to select wavelength; the lasers at 696.6 and 698.6 nm were obtained with a maximum output power of 1.36 and 3.11 W, separately. To the best of our knowledge, the output powers of these two lasers are the highest to date, and this is the first scaling of the output power of the Pr3+:YLF laser to the watt level at around 696 nm. In addition, the corresponding theoretical analysis and simulation were carried out to explain the experimental phenomena.

可见光激光器在激光彩色显示、激光医疗、量子信息、光通讯等领域有着十分重要的作用。三价镨离子(Pr³⁺)因在可见光波段存在丰富的激光能级跃迁而备受人们关注。特别是近年来，激光二极管(LD)、光泵浦半导体激光器(OPSL)等商业化泵浦源的出现，更是使得掺Pr³⁺固体激光器的研究得到了长足的发展。本文按照掺Pr³⁺固体激光器连续、脉冲和单纵模三种输出类型，介绍了每种输出类型在特定波段处的典型工作，以时间为主线对掺Pr³⁺固体激光器的研究历程与现状进行了概述，以及对未来掺Pr³⁺固体激光器的研究做了展望。

We demonstrate a dual-wavelength passively Q-switched Nd3+-doped glass fiber laser using a few-layer topological insulator Bi2Se3 as a saturable absorber (SA) for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The laser resonator is a simple and compact linear cavity using two fiber end-facet mirrors. The SA is fabricated by Bi2Se3/polyvinyl alcohol composite film. By inserting the SA into the laser cavity, a stable Q-switching operation is achieved with the shortest pulse width and maximum pulse repetition rate of 601 ns and 205.2 kHz, respectively. The maximum average output power and maximum pulse energy obtained are about 6.6 mW and 38.8 nJ, respectively.

The direct generation of passively Q-switched lasers at a green wavelength has rarely been investigated in the past. In this Letter, we demonstrate a passively Q-switched praseodymium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride green laser at 522 nm using CdTe/CdS quantum dots as a saturable absorber. A maximum average output power of 33.6 mW is achieved with the shortest pulse width of 840 ns. The corresponding pulse energy and peak power reached 0.18 μJ and 0.21 W, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration in regard to a quantum dots saturable absorber operating in the green spectral region.