High power narrowband 589 nm frequency doubled fibre laser source

We demonstrate high-power high-efficiency cavity-enhanced second harmonic generation of an in-house built ultra-high spectral density (SBS-suppressed) 1178 nm narrowband Raman fibre amplifier. Up to 14.5 W 589 nm CW emission is achieved with linewidth Delta nu(589) < 7 MHz in a diffraction-limited beam, with peak external conversion efficiency of 86%. The inherently high spectral and spatial qualities of the 589 nm source are particularly suited to both spectroscopic and Laser Guide Star applications, given the seed laser can be easily frequency-locked to the Na D(2a) emission line. Further, we expect the technology to be extendable, at similar or higher powers, to wavelengths limited only by the seed-pump-pair availability.