Nanosecond pulsed deep-red Raman laser based on the Nd:YLF dual-crystal configuration.

ABSTRACT

A highly powerful nanosecond pulsed deep-red laser was demonstrated by intracavity second-harmonic generation of an actively Q-switched NdYLF dual-crystal-based KGW Raman laser in a critically phase-matched lithium triborate (LBO) crystal. The first-Stokes fields at 1461 and 1490 nm driven by the 1314 nm fundamental laser were firstly produced by accessing the Raman shifts of 768 and 901 cm-1 in the KGW crystal, respectively, and thereafter converted to the deep-red emission lines at 731 and 745 nm by finely tuning the phase-matching angle of the LBO crystal and carefully realigning the resonator. Integrating the benefits of the NdYLF dual-crystal configuration and the meticulously designed L-shaped resonator, this deep-red laser system delivered the maximum average output powers of 5.2 and 7.6 W with the optical power conversion efficiencies approaching 6.3% and 9.2% under the optimal pulse repetition frequency of 4 kHz, respectively. The pulse durations of 6.7 and 5.5 ns were acquired with the peak powers up to approximately 190 and 350 kW, respectively, and the resultant beam qualities were determined to be near-diffraction-limited with M2 ≈ 1.5.