Efficient pulsed 946-nm laser emission from Nd:YAG pumped by a titanium-doped sapphire laser

Efficient pulsed room-temperature laser emission at 946 nm is obtained from a Nd:YAG rod pumped by a Ti-doped sapphire laser in the free-running mode. Three bonded YAG rods of 3-mm diameter with different Nd concentrations and active lengths were tested. A maximum output energy of 83.5 mJ at 3 Hz was obtained with a slope efficiency of 32.3% in an end-pumping configuration.