MHz-rate picosecond laser discretely tunable from the near-infrared to the deep ultraviolet

Abstract

Using YVO 4 as a Raman medium, stimulated Raman amplification of white-light continuum was successfully demonstrated. Only microjoule-level of pulse energies was needed to achieve efficient energy conversion to the first and the second Stokes radiation. Nonlinear optical mixing in a series of BBO crystals was used to attain discretely tunable picoseconds laser pulses in the visible and the ultraviolet spectral regions. A potential application of this radiation for resonance Raman spectroscopy is discussed.