Graphene saturable absorber (SA) is used as the passive Q-switcher of a 0.9-\mu m solid-state laser. When the laser medium is a Nd:La0.11Y0.89VO4 crystal, the initial transmittance of the graphene SA is 78%; at an absorbed pump power of 7.62 W, the maximum average output power, largest pulse energy, and minimum pulse width are 0.62 W, 2.58 μJ, and 84 ns, respectively. This study shows that graphene is a promising and cost-saving SA for 0.9-\mu m pulse generation.
