Self-mode-locked Nd:GdVO4 laser with multi-GHz oscillations: manifestation of third-order nonlinearity

Abstract

The large third-order nonlinearity of GdVO4 crystals is employed to realize the compact efficient continuous-wave self-mode locking in the range of several GHz in a Nd:GdVO4 laser with a simple linear cavity without the need of any additional components. With a pump power of 2.5 W, the compact laser cavity produces average output powers greater than 0.7 W with a pulse width as short as 23 ps in the range of 2-6 GHz.