Performance of the Self-Q-Switched Cr,Yb:YAG Laser

We report on the spectral properties of Cr,Yb:YAG crystal co-doped with 0.025 at.% Cr and 10 at.% Yb are reported. Using a continuous wave Ti:sapphire laser as a pumping source, We have demonstrated the self-Q-switched Cr,Yb:YAG laser has been at room temperature. We obtained an average output power as much as 75mW at 1.03μm with a pulse width (FWHM) as short as 0.4 μs. The laser experiment demonstrated that the Cr,Yb:YAG crystal exactly combines the Cr⁴⁺ saturable absorber and Yb³⁺ gain medium. The Cr,Yb:YAG crystal can be a most promising self-Q-switched laser crystal for compact and efficient solid-state lasers.