TI-SAPPHIRE LASER PUMPED BY A FREQUENCY-DOUBLED DIODE-PUMPED ND-YLF LASER

We report on the operation of a tunable all-solid-state (holosteric) laser system consisting of a tunable Ti:sapphire laser pumped by a frequency-doubled diode-laser-pumped Nd:YLF laser. With a 1-W pump diode, the Nd:YLF laser has been frequency-modulation mode locked and Q switched at 1.047 μm. This produces a pulse envelope of 75-nsec duration with 45 μJ of energy in 21-psec pulses at a 360-MHz repetition rate. This output was frequency doubled in 90° phase-matched MgO:LiNbO3 with a 47% energy conversion efficiency. The Ti:sapphire cavity was a three-mirror astigmatically compensated arrangement. The threshold absorbed pump energy was 3.9 μJ, with an output energy of 1.3 μJ at 10.8-μJ absorbed pump power. The tuning range was 746–838 nm and was limited by the mirror reflectivities. © 1990 Optical Society of America.