An intra-cavity Raman laser using synthetic single-crystal diamond

Low birefringence synthetic single-crystal diamond was used as a Raman laser medium inside a Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser. A maximum average output power of 375mW was achieved at a wavelength of 1240nm and a repetition rate of 6.3kHz. This equates to a conversion efficiency of 4% from the diode laser to the first Stokes component at 1240nm. Optical losses within the diamond (similar to 1% per single pass) limited the performance and are currently the main barrier to the demonstration of an efficient CW diamond Raman laser. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America