Continuous yellow-orange laser based on a diode-sidepumped Nd³⁺:YVO4 self-Raman laser

In this work we report the operation of the first diode-side-pumped continuouswave (cw) self-Raman laser at 588 nm. The laser is based on the intracavity frequency doubling in LBO, of a cw Nd+3:YVO₄ self-Raman laser operating at 1176 nm, whose cavity configuration is based on the total internal reflection of the laser beam at the pumped facet of the Nd+3:YVO₄ crystal. This laser design provided a cw output power of 820 mW with a slope efficiency of 6.7% at the frequency doubled first Stokes wavelength of 588 nm. Operation of TEM00 transversal laser mode was also demonstrated for pump powers up to 14.5 W, yielding a maximum output power of 340 mW.