Diode-pumped erbium-ytterbium-glass laser passively Q-switched with a PbS semiconductor quantum-dot doped glass

Q-switched and cw operation of different diode-pumped erbium-ytterbium doped glasses at 1.5 mum has been studied in a compact microlaser setup. For Q-switching we used a novel PbS semiconductor quantum-dot doped glass which offers low saturation intensity compared with typical absorbers used and a fast time response. The cw laser delivered output powers of 35 mW with slope efficiencies of 16%. In Q-switched operation pulse energies of 1 muJ at repetition rates of 1-2 kHz and pulse durations of about 30-50 ns, depending on absorber thickness were obtained.