More than 2.3 W diode-pumped quasi-continuous-wave Pr,Mg:SrAl12O19 bulk laser and the first demonstration of Co:ZnSe-based passively Q-switched deep red laser at 724 nm

We report on the recent progress on continuous-wave (CW) and passviely Q-switched Pr,Mg:SrAl12O19 (SRA) bulk lasers using a 24-W diode laser as pump source. Maximum output power of CW laser at 643 nm reached 1.63 W, which is believed to be the highest power that has ever been achieved in diode-pumped Pr3+-doped oxide lasers. After thermal mitigation by a mechanical chopper, a maximum instantaneous output power of 2.32 W can be obtained. For passive Q-switching of Pr,Mg:SRA laser at 724 nm, a Co:ZnSe crystal has been first-time used as saturable absorber, to our knowledge. A maximum average output power of 0.45 W was produced with the shortest pulse width of 180.5 ns at pulse repetition rate of 89.2 kHz, corresponding to pulse energy and peak power of 5 μJ and 28 W. These results indicate that Pr,Mg:SRA is a good oxide candidate for visible laser generation.