Q switching of a periodic-pulse-pumped industrial Nd:YAG laser by means of F2–-LiF crystals

A study has been made of an operating regime which results in the emission of distinct trains of pulses with an energy up to 4 J and a repetition frequency adjustable over the range 1–30 Hz. The trains themselves consist of equidistant pulses 50–100 ns long with a repetition frequency of 500–900 kHz, depending on the transmission of the passive laser Q switch and the pump energy. The energy efficiency of the Q switch is 0.9 at a laser efficiency of 1.53% and a modulation depth of 100%. The quality factor of the output is M ² = 3.3, and the coherence length is 14 cm.