Solid state microlaser, actively Q-switched by a micromodulator

摘要

The microlaser has upper and lower sections and includes an input mirror (22) and output mirror (24). The lower section of the mirror holds the laser material (20), e.g. YAG, while the upper section holds a prism mechanism. The laser material may be diode pumped. The prism mechanism has two prisms (32,34) of a given refractive index with a central area or gap (30) between them being delimited by their respective plane faces (36,38). The faces are inclined at an angle and leave the gap for a material having a different refractive index. The gap opens out to a top and bottom horizontal area with a sliding mechanism with, e.g. piezo-electric elements (44,46) to change the gap between the prisms.