title: Tunable diode-pumped and frequency-doubled Cr:LiSAF lasers.
abstract: The performance of a diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF laser and its intracavity frequency-doubled operation is reported. Close to 1 W of quasi-cw power at 870 nm was obtained in multimode operation. Power in excess of 20-mW cw of TEM(00) second-harmonic power at 435 nm has also been obtained by using a lithium triborate crystal with an infrared-to-visible conversion efficiency of 33%. This result is believed to be the highest yet reported for a true cw blue output from a diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF system. However, the maximum attainable output power was limited by thermal fluorescence quenching. The effect of the pump size on the temperature rise and on the small-signal gain is investigated.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laperle
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Snell
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chandonnet
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Galarneau
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vallée