Passively Q-switched Nd:YCOB laser with a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber

Abstract

A passively Single-walled carbon nanotube is a new material as a saturable absorber to obtain a Q-switched laser or a mode-locked laser because of it's broadband absorption wavelength and cheaper price comparing with SESAM. Here, by using a single-walled carbon nanotube as saturable absorber (SWCNT-SA), a passively Q-switched Nd:YCOB (Nd³⁺:YCa₄O(BO₃)₃)laser was realized at 1085.3nm pumped by a 808 nm diode laser .The fluorescence spectrum of Nd:YCOB crystal near 1.06 μm. The output power of the Q-switched laser of 175 mW were obtained at the pump power of 9W in a V-type cavity. The range of the repetition rate was from 35 kHz to 62.5 kHz and pulse width was 1.6μs (FWHM) at 62.5 kHz.