Broadband self-pulsed Yb:YAG/YVO4 Raman laser

Abstract

High repetition rate self-pulsed lasers operating at broadband Stokes wavelengths converted with stimulated Raman scattering effect in a compact Raman solid-state laser dramatically extend potential applications on laser ranging, material processing, optical communication. Here, we report broadband self-pulsed laser oscillation in a continuous-wave (CW) laser diode pumped Yb:YAG/YVO4 Raman laser by slightly tilting YVO4 crystal. Stable self-pulsed laser oscillation is obtained in a pump power regime from 2 W to 2.6 W, and the repetition rate increases from 46.5 kHz to 62 kHz. Self-pulsed Raman laser oscillates in multi-longitudinal-mode, the broadband spectral range covers from 1081.5 nm to 1094.3 nm with a bandwidth of 12.8 nm. At input pump power of 2.6 W, average output power up to 140 mW is obtained for stable self-pulsed Raman laser, the optical conversion efficiency is 5.4%. Self-pulsed Raman laser pulses with pulse energy of 2.3 μJ and pulse width of 3.9 μs are obtained. The peak power is 590 mW. This work provides a new route for developing compact self-pulsed Raman lasers for optical communications, material processing.