Transversely pumped laser using F3+ and F2 mixed color centers in a LiF crystal at room temperature

A stable laser with F-3(+) and F-2 mixed color centers in LiF crystal is constructed using a transversely pumped cavity at room temperature. The mixed color center laser is pumped with a nitrogen-laser-pumped dye laser. A pulse output of the laser is 0.23 mJ. The pulse widths of the F-3(+) and F-2 color center lasers are about 12 and 8.5 ns, respectively. The optical-optical conversion efficiency is about 5.0%. The divergence of the F-3(+) color center laser beam is about 2.2 mrad and that of the F-2 color center laser beam about 3.5 mrad. The polarization of the mixed color center laser is about 0.97. The output of the F-3(+) color center laser extends from 515 to 575 nm and peaks at 540 nm, while that of the F-2 color center laser extends from 633 to 705 nm and peaks at 667 nm.