High repetition frequency passively Q-switched Ho:YVO4 laser

• We demonstrated the high repetition frequency passive Q-switched Ho:YVO4 laser.
• The pump source is the 1.94 μm Tm-fiber laser.
• The highest pulse energy of 70.3 μJ was obtained at the absorbed pump power of 30.4 W.
• The pulse width gradually becomes shorter with the increase of pump power.

We have demonstrated a high repetition frequency passively Q-switched Ho:YVO4 laser with a Cr2+:ZnS saturable absorber pumped by a 1.94 μm Tm-fiber laser, for the first time to our knowledge, in this Letter. The maximum average output power of 8.1 W was achieved at the absorbed pump power of 30.4 W, corresponding to the minimum pulse width of 161.6 ns, pulse energy of 70.3 μJ and pulse repetition frequency of 114.6 kHz. In addition, the laser had beam quality factor of Mx2 ∼ 1.15 and My2 ∼ 1.09 at the output power of 5 W.