A compact source of stable cw single-frequency radiation at 473 nm has been realized by second-harmonic generation of a diode-pumped miniature Nd:YAG ring laser operating on the (4)F(3/2) - (4)I(9/2) laser transition. By use of potassium niobate (KNbO(3)), single-longitudinal-mode output powers of 500 mW cw with high stability and maximum optical-to-optical conversion efficiencies >81% are achieved. An external semimonolithic cavity permits mode-hop-free frequency tuning of blue radiation over as much as 20 GHz.

A compact and efficient source of cw single-frequency radiation at 532 nm with excellent long-term stability has been realized by external frequency doubling of a diode-pumped miniature Nd:YAG ring laser. With a semimonolithic MgO:LiNbO(3) resonator an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 89% from 1064 to 532 nm at an output power of 1.1 W was achieved, with a wall plug efficiency of 9%. This system represents an ideal pump source for narrow-linewidth cw optical parametric oscillators with good frequency stability.

Reliable high energy laser sources had been proven in the past to be the bottle neck for space-borne LIDAR instruments. The presented FULAS laser optical design concept and the developed technologies define a technology baseline for a high variety of potential LIDAR applications. The technology provides a reliable space compatible system design, optimized with respect to lifetime and in especial laser induced contamination. The applied design principles and modularity allow proven energy scalability, flexible modes of operation and a manifold of opportunities for tailoring of the output wavelength. The concept, some details of the design and the potential for future application are addressed in this publication

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a longitudinally diode-pumped, monolithic ytterbium ion-doped YAG non-planar ring laser (NPRO). We achieved a continuous-wave (cw) single-frequency output power of 1 W with 45.0% slope efficiency and a beam quality factor of M(2)<1.1. In view of iodine frequency stabilization we have characterized the frequency tuning properties and have measured the relative intensity noise. Additionally, 6.1 mW second harmonic power at 515 nm was achieved using a periodically poled KTP crystal in a single-pass setup.

We describe the laser performance and thermal properties of side-pumped Nd:YAG rod lasers that use ibercoupled diode lasers as pump sources. Utilizing a nearly homogeneous pump light profile, we realize an output power of more than 60 W in TEM(00) mode operation with optical-to-optical efficiencies of more than 25%. In multimode operation, optical slope efficiencies of more than 46% are observed.