Instability and satellite pulse of passively Q-switching Nd:LuVO4 laser with Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber

This work presents experimental results concerning a passively Q-switching Nd:LuVO4 laser with a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber operated in a three-element cavity. When the pump power exceeded 5.47 W, the system transfers stable pulse train into spatial–temporal instability. Furthermore, the chaotic pulse train accompanied the generation of a satellite pulse. The experimental results reveal that the mechanisms of instability and generation of the satellite pulse are governed by the multitransverse mode competition.