1.36 W Passively Q-Switched YVO4/Nd:YVO4 Laser With a WS2 Saturable Absorber

By using WS
₂
as saturable absorber (SA), a diode-pumped passively
$Q$
-switched YVO
₄
/Nd:YVO
₄
laser is demonstrated. Under the pump power of 6.28 W, a maximum output power of 1.36 W and minimum pulse duration of 56 ns with a repetition rate of 1.03 MHz are obtained, resulting in a peak power of as high as 23.6 W. So far as we know, it is the shortest pulse duration in
$Q$
-switched lasers with 2-D materials. The experimental results show that WS
₂
is an excellent SA for all-solid-state
$Q$
-switched lasers.