Diode-pumped Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:Gd0.3Lu0.33Y0.37VO4 laser with EO modulator and single-walled carbon nanotube

By using both the single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber (SWCNT-SA) and the electro-optic (EO) modulator, the stably doubly Q-switched and mode-locked (QML) operation of Nd:Gd0.3Lu0.33Y0.37VO4 laser has been demonstrated. The QML laser characteristics such as the pulse width, single-pulse energy, etc., have been measured for different modulation frequencies of the EO modulator (fe) and reflectivity (R) of output coupler. In comparison with the solely passively QML laser with SWCNT-SA, the experimental results show that the doubly QML laser can generate more stable and shorter pulses with higher pulse energy. At 9.24 W pump power, fe=1 kHz and R=93.5%, the doubly QML laser has compressed the Q-switched envelope pulse width 88% and improved the mode-locked pulsed energy 55 times.

► We use both SWCNT-SA and EO modulator to demonstrate a QML laser for the first time.
► Nd:Gd0.3Lu0.33Y0.37VO4 crystal is used in QML laser for the first time.
► The performance of SWCNT-SA is characterized.
► The stable QML laser characteristics have been measured for different modulation frequencies.
► The dual-loss-modulated QML laser can generate more stable pulse train and higher peak power.