Magnetic domains driving a Q-switched laser.

A 10-mm cavity length magnetooptically Q-switched Nd:GdVO(4) laser was demonstrated using a single-crystalline ferrimagnetic rare-earth iron garnet film. To design the Q-switching system, the magnetic, optical, and magnetooptical properties of the garnet film were measured. The diode pumped solid-state laser cavity was constructed using a 190-μm-thick garnet film with 58% transmittance. The garnet film had maze-shaped magnetic domains, and the domain walls disappeared when a field of over 200 Oe was applied. Therefore, the polarization state of the transmitted light was modified by modulating the magnetization, and a Q-switched pulse output with a pulse width of 5 ns and peak power of 255 W was achieved in the 10-mm-long cavity. The physical limitation of the pulse width was discussed with the calculated results.