Compact self-Q-switched laser near 2μm

A diode pumped Tm3+ doped YAlO3 (Tm:YAP ) self-Q-switched near 2μm laser was studied with a compact linear cavity. Stable self-Q-switched laser pulses were obtained at the central wavelength of 1988nm with the maximum average output power of 1.68W, corresponding to the slope efficiency of 31.7%. The pulse repetition rate and single pulse energy were 65.16kHz and 25.7μJ, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a diode pumped all-solid-state self-Q-switched laser at the 2μm region.