Passively Q-switched Nd3+:YVO4/Cr4+:YAG Two-Dimensional Laser Array

Compact, integrated nanosecond pulse lasers featuring high peak power and spatial brightness are ideal light sources for high-sensitivity remote sensing and precision micromachining. Electrically modulated nanosecond laser diodes, commonly used in light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems, face intrinsic trade-offs among peak power, brightness, and module size. In this work, we demonstrate, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the realization of a high-peak-power two-dimensional (2D) solid-state laser array. This is achieved through direct optical coupling and precision mechanical alignment of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array, a thin Nd3+:YVO4 crystal, a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber, and an output coupler. The 2 × 2 mm2 array system generated linearly polarized laser pulses at 1 μm with a single-pulse energy of 65.20 μJ and a peak power of 3.41 kW. The brightness reached 74.79 MW·cm-2·sr-1. Furthermore, burst-mode pulse generation with a controllable number of pulses was achieved by varying the VCSEL pumping width. The pulse energy reached 0.38 mJ with an optical conversion efficiency of 10.0%. These results establish an integrated, high-brightness, nanosecond 2D laser array with significant potential for LiDAR, active remote sensing, and other energy-intensive photonic applications.