Diode-pumped dual-frequency microchip Nd :YAG laser with tunable frequency difference

摘要

The diode-pumped dual-frequency microchip Nd :YAG laser with tunable frequency difference is presented. The gain medium used is a microchip 2mm in thickness for miniaturized and integrated design. Two quarter-wave plates are placed into the laser cavity and the intra-cavity birefringence produces two orthogonally linearly polarized modes. The rotation of one of the two quarter-wave plates introduces a controlled and variable cavity birefringence which causes a variable frequency difference between the two orthogonally polarized modes. The frequency difference can be tuned through the whole cavity free spectral range. The obtained frequency difference ranges from 14MHz to 1.5 GHz. The variation of the beat frequency over a period of 10 min is less than 10 kHz. The lock-in between modes is not found. Experimental results are presented, which match well with the theoretical analysis based on Jones matrices.