Continuous wave waveguide lasers of swift argon ion irradiated Nd:YVO_4 waveguides

We report on the fabrication of planar waveguide in Nd:YVO(4) crystal by using swift Ar(8+) ion irradiation. At room temperature continuous wave (cw) laser oscillation at wavelength of ~1067 nm has been realized through the optical pump at 808 nm with a low threshold of 9.3 mW. The slope efficiency of the waveguide laser system is of 8.5%. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is 6.6%.