Upgrading A Benchtop Laser For Megawatt Power

A hobbyist upgraded a former tattoo-removal laser by adding a Q-switch built from chromium-doped YAG crystals, dramatically boosting peak power. Without the Q-switch, the laser produced a 150 µs pulse with 137 mJ total energy and under 1 kW peak power. With the Q-switch installed, the pulse compressed to 14 ns while peak power jumped to 1.3 megawatts (total energy dropped to 77 mJ). Testing different crystal absorptions showed higher absorption yields higher peak power, reaching 2.25 MW at 92% absorption. Despite the power increase, the short pulse duration wasn't enough to improve metal cutting, though it could ionize air and shatter glass at the focal point.

Source: https://hackaday.com/2026/10/04/upgrading-a-benchtop-laser-for-megawatt-power. 8 Sync News only summarizes and links out; content copyright belongs to the authors and original sources.