Directly LD-pumped passively Q-switched YVO₄-Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1.34 μm with a V³⁺: YAG saturable absorber

The performance of a directly LD-pumped passively Q-switched YVO4-Nd:YVO4 laser at 1.34 mu m with a V3+:YAG saturable absorber was demonstrated for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The average output power of 580 mW was obtained at the pump power of 8.8 W, corresponding to the optical conversion efficiency of 6.6% and slope efficiency of 11%. The minimum pulse width was 280 ns with the pulse repetition rate of 230 kHz, which was attained with a T = 5.6% output coupler at the pump power of 8.8 W.