High Power Continuous-Wave Actively Mode-Locked Diode-Pumped Nd:YAG Laser

We demonstrate a diode-pumped cw mode-locked Nd:YAG by an acousto-optic mode locker. A mode-locked pulse with duration of 345 ps and output power of 12 W is obtained. The resonator design shows three advantages: a larger mode volume, high stability against thermal lens fluctuations, and excellent beam quality with TE₀₀ mode. Different from previous active mode locking designs, we employ a frequency stabilizer and a phase-lock loop circuit to ensure the mode locking stable operation.