Diode pumped Nd3+ : GdVO4 laser with fibre input

A single-mode Nd³⁺ : GdVO₄ laser (λ = 1.06 μm) with diode pumping (λ = 10.81 μm) and fibre input was constructed. It could be operated in the cw regime and in a regime of passive Q switching of the cavity. A technology was developed for coupling the radiation of laser diodes into fibre waveguides with an efficiency up to 93%. Without focusing of the pump radiation (of 175 mW power), the output power and the lasing threshold obtained for a hemispherical cavity 10 cm long were 38 and 15 mW, respectively. When the laser was passively Q switched by an LiF : F₂^- crystal, the output was pulse-periodic: the pulse duration was 15–100 ns, the repetition frequency was 5–200 kHz, and the peak power was 10 W.