The laser performance of a novel disordered Yb:CTGG crystal

• The spectroscopic properties of a novel Yb:CTGG crystal were investigated.
• The continuous-wave laser performance of Yb:CTGG crystal have been studied.
• The passively Q-switched and Q-switched mode-locking operation have been demonstrated.

The diode-end-pumped passively Q-switched and Q-switched mode-locked Yb:Ca2.85Ta1.80Ga3.10O12 (CTGG) lasers with V3+:YAG as the saturable absorber have been demonstrated. In the Q-switched regime, an average output power of 1.6 W was obtained under the absorbed pump power of 8.6 W. The shortest pulse width was 36.8 ns with a pulse repetition rate of 30 kHz, corresponding to a single pulse energy of 53 μJ and a peak power of 1.44 kW, respectively. Moreover, smooth shifts observed in output wavelength from 1034.4 to 1039.3 nm with the increased absorbed pump power were attributed to the thermal effects. For the Q-switched mode-locking operation, the average output power of 638 mW was obtained with a pulse repetition rate of 38 MHz.