9.8 W continuous-wave laser from an Nd:YMgB5O10 crystal and its passively Q-switching laser performance

This paper systematically reports the continuous-wave (CW) and passively Q-switched pulsed laser performance of an Nd:YMgB5O10 (Nd:YMB) crystal under laser diode pumping. A CW output power of 9.8 W was obtained at an absorbed pump power of 25.9 W, with a slope efficiency of 43.3%. This represents the highest CW output power reported to date for the 1 μm LnMgB5O10 family of laser crystals. Orthogonally polarized multi-wavelength emission at 1076, 1082, and 1090 nm was also observed. By using Cr:YAG as a saturable absorber, passively Q-switched laser operation was achieved, delivering a maximum average output power of 4.3 W. The laser produced pulses with a repetition rate of 115.3 kHz, a pulse width of 31 ns, a peak power of 1.20 kW, and a single pulse energy of 37.2 μJ. The results indicate that Nd:YMB exhibits excellent potential as a multi-wavelength laser gain medium. This makes it a promising candidate for applications such as terahertz wave generation via difference frequency generation and precision laser metrology.