High-repetition-rate 1.5 µm passively Q-switched Er:Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 microchip laser

End-pumped by a 976 nm diode laser, a high-repetition-rate Er:Yb:YAl3(BO3)4 microchip laser passively Q-switched by a Co2+:MgAl2O4 crystal is reported. At a quasi-continuous-wave pump power of 20 W, a 1553 nm passively Q-switched laser with the repetition rate of 544 kHz, pulse duration of 8.3 ns, and pulse energy of 3.9 μJ was obtained. To the best of our knowledge, the 544 kHz is the highest reported value for the 1.5 μm passively Q-switched pulse laser. In the continuous-wave pumping experiment, the maximum repetition rate of 144 kHz with the pulse duration of 8.0 ns and pulse energy of 1.7 μJ was obtained at the incident pump power of 6.3 W.