Erbium glass lasers with passive Q switching of the resonator by a component containing erbium

The feasibility of effective passive Q switching by a glass switch of special composition was demonstrated for erbium lasers emitting at 1.54 μm. A study was made of the characteristics of the output radiation pulses obtained in this case. A resonator configuration ensuring, in the case of this type of Q switching, a uniform filling of the laser aperture with radiation and single-spike lasing was proposed and investigated.