2-mJ picosecond Nd:YAG slab laser passively Q-switched and mode-locked using multiple quantum well saturable absorbers

The multiple-quantum-well mode locking of an oscillator based on single bounce triangle Nd:YAG slab pumped by a 600 W 2D quasi-cw diode laser stack is reported in this paper. Results show a 20 ns long containing only 3 pulses with total energy of 0.65 mJ and a single pulsed duration of 65 ps are generated at a repetition rate of 35 Hz using the absorber with lower initial transmission lines. For the absorber with a higher initial transmission, 2 mJ pulse trains containing 6 pulses with single pulse duration of 87 ps are generated directly from the laser oscillator without any additional amplification.