Work

Compact low-voltage waveplate-free burst-mode EO Q-switched Nd:YAG laser based on a thermally self-biased PIN-PMN-32PT crystal

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: We demonstrate a compact burst-mode electro-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG laser using a thermally self-biased PIN-PMN-32PT relaxor ferroelectric crystal. The crystal exhibited a half-wave voltage of 490 V under transverse EO modulation, which is substantially lower than that of conventional Pockels cells. By thermally tuning its intrinsic birefringence to provide an equivalent quarter-wave retardation, the crystal simultaneously served as the EO modulator and intracavity phase-bias element, eliminating the need for an additional quarter-wave plate and enabling a 45-mm plano–plano resonator. Under 100-Hz, 1-ms pumping, stable pulse trains were obtained at intra-burst repetition frequencies of 10 and 20 kHz. At 10 kHz, the laser delivered 770 mW average output power, a minimum pulse width of 3.8 ns, and a pulse-amplitude coefficient of variation (CV) of 6.56%, with performance comparable to that of a DKDP-based reference laser. At 20 kHz, the output power increased to 880 mW, with a pulse width of 4.5 ns and a pulse-amplitude CV of 14.19%. These results establish a low-voltage, waveplate-free architecture for compact burst-mode EO Q-switched solid-state lasers.

Source: Optics & Laser Technology

DOI: 10.1016/j.optlastec.2026.116466