High power acousto-optical Q-switched Tm:YLF-pumped Ho:GdVO4 laser

A high power acousto-optical Q-switched Ho:GdVO4 laser at 2.05 μm pumped by a diode-pumped VBG-locked Tm:YLF laser at 1.94 μm is demonstrated in this paper. The maximum average output power of 10.3 W at pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz was obtained with the absorbed pump power of 34.9 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 36.8%. The minimum pulse width of 5.8 ns was obtained, corresponding to a peak power of 177.6 kW. The laser operated at a single mode (TEM00) with a beam quality factor of Mx2 of 1.3 and My2 of 1.2 at maximum output level.