486 nm pulsed Nd:YLF laser with intracavity sum-frequency mixing

An intracavity sum-frequency pulsed laser emitting at 486 nm was demonstrated in a combined cavity for two electro-optically Q-switched Nd:YLF fundamental lasers emitting at 908 nm and 1047 nm respectively. Pumped by two 806 nm LDs at 50 Hz repetition rate, while the intracavity pulse energy reached 6.25 mJ at 908 nm and 2.57 mJ at 1047 nm, maximum output pulse energy of 0.26 mJ at 486.4 nm wavelength was successfully achieved by intracavity sum-frequency. The corresponding spectral bandwidth was less than 0.08 nm, and the pulse width was about 11.8 ns. The peak power of the blue laser pulse was up to 21.8 kW, and the results provided a new blue pulsed laser source around 486 nm for ocean detection applications.