1912 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 35, NO.

12, DECEMBER 1999

Modeling of Diode-Pumped Actively

-Switched Lasers
Xingyu Zhang, Shengzhi Zhao, Qingpu Wang, B. Ozygus, and H. Weber

Abstract—The intracavity photon density and initial population sizes on the laser characteristics, it is desirable to consider the
Q
inversion density in the diode-pumped actively -switched laser spatial variation of pumping and intracavity photon density in
rate equations are assumed to be Gaussian distributions. These the rate equations of LD-pumped -switched lasers.
space-dependent rate equations are solved numerically and a
group of general curves are generated. By using these curves In this paper, the intracavity photon density is assumed to
and the related formulas, the pulse parameters of an arbitrary be a Gaussian distribution during the entire formatting process
Q
actively -switched laser can be easily estimated and an optimally of the -switched pulse, and the population inversion density
Q
coupled -switched laser can be designed. A sample calculation at is also assumed to be a Gaussian profile. These space-
for a -switched Nd3+ :YVO4 laser is presented to demonstrate
Q dependent rate equations are solved numerically and a group
the use of the curves and the related formulas.
of general curves are generated. From these general curves
Q
Index Terms— Actively -switched lasers, laser diode pump- and the related formulas, the -switched pulse energy, peak
ing, rate equations, spatial distribution of laser mode, spatial power, pulsewidth, and symmetry can be easily estimated, and
distribution of pumping.
an optimally coupled -switched laser can be designed. The
parameters of an LD-pumped -switched Nd :YVO laser
I. INTRODUCTION using a quadrupole electrooptic deflector are calculated as an
example to demonstrate the use of the curves and the related
L ASER DIODE (LD)-pumped solid-state lasers have a
wide variety of applications because of their high ef-
ficiency, simplicity, compactness, good frequency stability,
formulas.

etc. Since the early 1980’s, with the development of reliable II. THE RATE EQUATIONS
high-power LD’s, research on LD-pumped solid-state lasers The intracavity photon density for the TEM mode
has been a hot topic in the field of laser devices. In recent can be expressed as
years, with the increasing demand for cheap and compact
nanosecond and subnanosecond regime pulsed lasers, LD- (1)
pumped -switched miniature lasers have attracted a great
deal of attention [1]–[5].
where is the radial coordinate, is the laser mode radius,
The theoretical tools describing the operation of lasers are
which is determined by the geometry of the resonator, and
the rate equations. For LD-pumped CW-operated solid-state
is the photon density along the laser axis.
lasers, the spatial variation of pumping and intracavity photon
In the rate equations, the spatial variation of the population
density in the rate equations has been considered, and the
inversion density should also be considered. Besides, the dif-
importance of including the spatial variation as opposed to
ferential equation describing should be integrated
the assumption of uniform pumping and extraction has been
over the beam cross section to guarantee the beam Gaussian
shown [6]–[10]. For LD-pumped -switched lasers, however,
distribution during the entire formatting process of the -
the rate equations obtained under the plane-wave approxima-
switched pulse. By making the above modifications to the rate
tion have still been used [2], [4], [11]–[13]. The plane-wave
equations in [11], we obtain
approximation assumes that the population inversion density
and the intracavity photon density within the beam cross
section only depend on time [2], [4], [11]–[13]. For an LD-
pumped laser, this assumption is not properly satisfied. For
a more accurate theoretical analysis of the -switched laser
pulses, particularly of the influence of the pump and laser mode
(2)
Manuscript received May 20, 1999; revised August 16, 1999. This work was
supported in part by the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher (3)
Education of the Education Committee of China and the Science Foundation
of Shandong Province. The work of X. Zhang was supported the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft. where is the population inversion density, and are
X. Zhang, S. Zhao, and Q. Wang are with the Optics Department, Shandong the stimulated emisson cross section and length of the gain
University, Jinan 250100, China. medium, respectively, is the round-trip transit time
B. Ozygus and H. Weber are with the Optical Institute, Technical University
of Berlin, D-10623 Berlin, Germany of the light in the resonator of optical length is the light
Publisher Item Identifier S 0018-9197(99)09438-5. speed in vacuum, is the reflectivity of the output mirror, is
0018–9197/99$10.00  1999 IEEE

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ZHANG et al.: MODELING OF DIODE-PUMPED ACTIVELY -SWITCHED LASERS 1913

the inversion reduction factor, which actually corresponds to ing pulse, after attenuation through spontaneous emission, can
the net reduction in the population inversion resulting from the be neglected. When is relatively large (for
stimulated emission of a single photon, and is the remaining example, ), even if is high,
round-trip dissipative optical loss. itself is small enough to be neglected. When is high and, at
Generally speaking, the build-up time of the -switched the same time, is relatively small, the residual
pulse is about one order of magnitude larger than the pulse population inversion density from the preceding pulse cannot
duration, and, during the build-up time, the population in- be completely neglected, and the spatial distribution of
version density is not obviously depleted [14], [15]. There- will have some difference from the Gaussian distribution.
fore, although the operating process of the -switch is time- For side-pumped lasers, it is reasonable to consider
dependent, provided the -switch opening time is smaller than to be uniform, which corresponds to the case of a Gaussian
the pulse build-up time and is defined as the loss during distribution when .
the formation of the -switched pulse, can be considered Substituting (1) and (4) into (3) and integrating the result
as constant. For a Pockels cell -switch [1], [2] and an over time, we obtain
electrooptic deflector -switch [5], the above condition always
holds. For an acoustooptic -switch [3], [4], the changing
process of the -value is relatively slow. However, if the
opening time of the acoustooptic -switch is longer than the (5)
pulse build-up time, the change of the -value during the pulse
duration is so small that can also be considered constant. Substituting (5) into (2) yields
For end-pumped lasers, since the pump light intensity in
the gain medium is attenuated along the longitudinal axis
is also a function of . In this paper, we focus on
the influence of the pump and laser mode sizes on the -
switched pulse characteristics. in the above equations
represents the average value, i.e., .
For side-pumped lasers, it is reasonable to consider to
be independent of .
For four-level gain media like Nd :YAG and (6)
Nd :YVO (1.06 m), the pumped population is small
compared to the total population, the ground state population Equation (6) is the basic differential equation describing
density can be considered as constant, and the pumped as a function of .
population density should be proportional to the pump
light intensity. If the pump light can be approximated by a III. SOLUTIONS OF THE RATE EQUATIONS
Gaussian profile, then the pumped population density can
also be considered to be a Gaussian distribution. For a single By setting (6) equal to zero and we can obtain the
pulse of an LD-end-pumped repetitively -switched laser, threshold of the initial population inversion density in the laser
the initial population inversion density comes from axis
the pumped population density during the interval between
(7)
the preceding pulse and this pulse if the residual population
inversion density from the preceding -switched pulse, which
is not a Gaussian distribution, can be neglected. That is to We introduce the normalized time , normalized photon
say, under the approximation that no residual population density and normalized population inversion density
inversion density from the preceding pulse is included, as
can be expressed as
(8)
(4)
(9)
where is the average radius of the pump beam in the gain
medium and is the initial population inversion density
in the laser axis. Generally speaking, the residual population (10)
inversion density at the end of a -switched pulse
is smaller than , and the larger is, where is the photon decay time. is the ratio
the smaller is. Here is the ending time of of the initial population inversion density in the laser axis
the -switched pulse and is the threshold population to the threshold . For four-level gain media like
inversion density. When the pulse repetition rate is not Nd :YAG and Nd :YVO , the pumped population density
very high (for example, is the upper laser level is proportional to the pump beam intensity and equals
lifetime), no matter whether the is large or the ratio of the pump power to the threshold pump power when
not, the residual population inversion density from the preced- the pulse repetition rate is fixed.

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1914 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 35, NO. 12, DECEMBER 1999

Substituting (8)–(10) into (6) yields

(11)

where

(12)

(13)
Fig. 1. The relation between r01 and N (0; 0) for different !p =!L . (a)

Equation (11) is just the differential equation describing the

!p  !L . (b) !p = !L . (c) !p 
!L .

normalized photon density in the laser axis versus the normal-

ized time. In the case of and
simpler equations can be derived from (11)

for (14)

for (15)

Fig. 2. The relation between f01 and N (0; 0) for different !p =!L . (a)
for (16) !p  !L . (b) !p = !L . (c) !p 
!L .

where

(17)

By numerically solving (11)–(17), we can obtain

for different and different (see the Appendix).
From the shape of we can obtain and . Here
is the normalized time interval for to rise from
to is the maximum value of and is the
normalized time interval for the fall of from to
. will indicate the symmetry of the -switched
pulse, and the pulsewidth is

(18) Fig. 3. The relation between 8m and N (0; 0) for different !p =!L . (a)
!p  !L . (b) !p = !L . (c) !p 
!L .

By using the method of [11], we can obtain the following

expressions for pulse peak power and pulse energy : where is the maximum value of is the laser
mode volume, and is the photon energy.
Figs. 1–4 show, respectively, the variations of
and as functions of
(19) for and . Figs. 5–8 show,
respectively, the variations of and as
functions of for
and respectively. By using Figs. 1–8
(20) and (18)–(20), one can easily estimate the -switched pulse
characteristics. Figs. 1–4 and (18)–(20) are also suitable for

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ZHANG et al.: MODELING OF DIODE-PUMPED ACTIVELY -SWITCHED LASERS 1915

Fig. 4. The relation between 8integ and N (0; 0) for different !p =!L . (a)
!p  !L . (b) !p = !L . (c) !p  !L .
Fig. 7. The relation between 8m =8m (!p = !L ) and !p =!L for different
N (0; 0). (a) N (0; 0) = 4:48. (b) N (0; 0) = 2:72. (c) N (0; 0) = 1:65.

Fig. 5. The relation between r =r (!p = !L ) and !p =!L for different
N (0; 0). (a) N (0; 0) = 4:48. (b) N (0; 0) = 2:72. (c) N (0; 0) = 1:65. Fig. 8. The relation between 8integ =8integ (!p = !L ) and !p =!L for dif-
ferent N (0; 0). (a) N (0; 0) = 4:48. (b) N (0; 0) = 2:72. (c) N (0; 0) = 1:65.

value in the case of are only 22.3% and 37.5%,

respectively, while the relative increments of and
are 86.4% and 126%, respectively.
It should be pointed out that the fact that increases
with increasing does not mean that a larger
yields a higher efficiency. This is because the pump power also
increases with increasing for a given . Since
the efficiency is proportional to the ratio of the output pulse
energy to the pump power, and the pump power is proportional
to the efficiency as a function of for a
given is proportional to

Fig. 6. The relation between f =f (!p = !L ) and !p =!L for different
N (0; 0). (a) N (0; 0) = 4:48. (b) N (0; 0) = 2:72. (c) N (0; 0) = 1:65. (21)

flashlamp-pumped actively -switched lasers, which, like the Fig. 9 shows versus for and
LD-side-pumped lasers, correspond to the situation of respectively. It can be seen that the smaller
. The results in the case of are the same as those is, the larger is. When decreases very slowly
obtained under the plane-wave approximation ( herein with increasing . When experiences a deep
corresponds to in [11]). decrease. This phenomenon is easy to understand. When
As can be seen from Figs. 1–8, and nearly all the inversion population participates in
all increase with increasing for a given . The the interaction with the laser mode. When only the
influence of on and is relatively small while the central part of the inversion population interacts with the laser
influence of on and is relatively large. For mode; the other part outside the laser mode is depleted through
example, in the case of when increases spontaneous emission. This conclusion is similar to that for an
from 0.125 to 8, the increments of and (relative to the LD-pumped CW-operated laser [8], [9]. For the sake of high

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1916 IEEE JOURNAL OF QUANTUM ELECTRONICS, VOL. 35, NO. 12, DECEMBER 1999

Fig. 11. The relation between Emax and Z for different !p =!L . (a)
 
0
Fig. 9. The relation between  and !p =!L for different N (0; 0). (a)
N (0; 0) = 4:48. (b) N (0; 0) = 2:72. (c) N (0; 0) = 1:65. !p !L . (b) !p = !L . (c) !p !L .

(in units of and for and

.

IV. APPLICATIONS
Friel et al. [5] recently reported a miniature -switched
Nd :YVO laser using a quadrupole electrooptic deflector.
The parameters for this laser are: laser mode size m,
pump spot size at the waist m, pump power
W, threshold pump power W, output coupler
reflectivity stimulated emission cross section of
the gain medium cm the insertion loss of
the deflector is less than 2%, and lengths of the resonator,
The relation between Xopt and Z for different !p =!L : (a)
 !L; (b) !p 
Fig. 10.
!p = !L ; (c) !p !L : the deflector, and the gain medium are, respectively, 12.5, 11,
and 1 mm. These data determine ns (the refractive
indexes of the deflector and the gain medium are 2.3 and 2.2,
efficiency, should be as small as possible. However, if is respectively). The -switched pulse has an energy of J, a
too small, the thermal effect in the gain medium will be serious peak power of 11.5 kW and a pulsewidth of 1.3 ns at low pulse
[16], [17] and the laser mode will experience a nonspherical repetition rate (less than 2 kHz) when a tantalate deflector is
lens. Because of this, it will be difficult to arrange the resonator used. We treat this laser as an example. The steps for the
to produce a good Gaussian distribution laser mode. In view calculations are as follows: First, calculate the laser mode size
of the fact that decreases very slowly with increasing according to the geometry of the resonator and estimate
when it is suggested that the resonator of an LD- the average pump beam size in the gain medium For this
pumped actively -switched laser should be designed so that laser, m. Since the fiber-coupled pump beam is
is slightly smaller than . focused into the gain medium by a lens, the pump beam radius
When is fixed, for a given [ is deter- in the gain medium depends on the longitudinal position, and
mined by the pump power and the selected pulse repetition the average pump beam size is larger than the size at the
rate], the maximum output pulse energy can be obtained waist [9]. From the result of this laser in a CW mode (the
by selecting the optimal output coupler reflectivity . Since product of the threshold pump power and the slope efficiency),
is a function of and can be expressed we estimate that is slightly larger than . For the sake
as a function of and where of simplicity, we assume the average pump beam size to
be also m, i.e., . Second, determine .
(22) For this laser, Third, determine
and from related figures. For this laser,
and which
(23) are obtained from Figs. 1–4, respectively. Fourth, obtain the
pulse energy peak power and pulsewidth by using
then the ratio of pulse energy to can also be (18)–(20). For this laser, J, kW, and
expressed as a function of and . The optimization cor- ns. These theoretical results are in good agreement
responds to finding the optimal for a given (i.e., a with the experimental results. In calculating and
given and a given ). Fig. 10 shows the relation we use ns, J, and
between and for and . [11], where and are, respectively, the
Fig. 11 shows the relation between the maximum energy Boltzmann occupation factors of the upper and lower laser

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ZHANG et al.: MODELING OF DIODE-PUMPED ACTIVELY -SWITCHED LASERS 1917

levels of the gain medium. For Nd :YVO gain medium (A4)

at room temperature, and . includes
the insertion loss of the deflector which is less than 0.02 and where
other dissipative losses in the resonator. is estimated to be
(A5)
between 0.02 and 0.05. Since is much smaller than
the theoretical values of and nearly remain constant (A6)
when changes from 0.02 to 0.05. By contrast, if the solutions (A7)
to the rate equations under the plane-wave approximation are (A8)
used, the theoretical values of and are 9.8 J, 8.4
(A9)
kW and 1.02 ns, respectively.
By using the related figures and formulas, we can also obtain is the step size of , and and are the th values
the maximum output energy by selecting the optimal output of and respectively.
coupler reflectivity for a given pump level and a given In calculating and
. The steps may be as follows. First, calculate by needs to be calculated. We use the Simpson method to cal-
using (7), (10), and (22). Second, obtain and (in culate this integration [18, pp. 350–354]. After region [0, 1]
units of from Figs. 10 and 11. Third, obtain is evenly divided into parts ( is an even number), the
and the real maximum output energy by using integration can be approximated by
(23) and (20). By using the above procedure, we obtain:
and J for and
and J for . By contrast,
if the solutions to the rate equations under the plane-wave
approximation are used, the corresponding theoretical results
are: and J for and (A10)
and J for .
where is the step size of and is the
V. CONCLUSION th value of
should be so selected that
We have numerically solved the space-dependent rate equa- is smaller than a selected value is the integration
tions of an LD-pumped actively -switched laser and gener- when region [0, 1] is evenly divided into parts). In our
ated a group of curves. In the rate equations, the intracavity calculation, .
photon density is assumed to be a Gaussian distribution during The initial value of is zero. The initial value of i.e.,
the entire formatting process of the -switched pulse, and the , can be set at a value much smaller than . If
population inversion density at is also assumed to be a is even smaller, the pulse build-up time will become longer,
Gaussian profile [when can be obtained from but and are not changed. When we set
(3)]. By normalizing the related parameters, the generated and all the
curves are valid for an arbitrary LD-pumped actively - obtained data have three or more significant digits. Equations
switched laser, as well as a flashlamp-pumped -switched (14)–(16) can be solved in similar ways.
laser. By using these curves and the related formulas, one
can easily predict the -switched pulse parameters and design
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
an optimally coupled -switched laser. Examples have been
given to demonstrate the use of the curves and the related One of the authors, X. Zhang, would like to thank Dr. Q.
formulas. Zhang for his help in this work.

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APPENDIX
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