Sub-nanosecond pulses from passively Q-switched microchip lasers at 1.53 /spl mu/m

Summary form only given. We demonstrated the first sub-nanosecond pulses at 1.53 /spl mu/m from a passively Q-switched microchip laser. Peak powers of up to 4.7 kW were generated. We found that the alignment of the output coupler is surprisingly critical for the performance and that significantly shortened pulses can be obtained by deliberately using a small tilt.