Characteristics of laser operation at 1064 nm in Nd:YVO_4 under diode pumping at 808 and 914 nm

A comparative study between 808 and 914 nm pumping of Nd:YVO4 crystals for laser operation at 1064 nm has been carried out. Using similar setups, performances of both configurations were first studied in the continuous wave, small-signal gain, and Q-switched regimes. Thanks to a numerical model, it is shown that fluorescence quenching and upconversion processes limit the possible uses for the 914 nm pumping scheme to regimes with low population inversions.