Continuous wave dual-wavelength Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1342 and 1525 nm for generating a 714-nm emission

Continuous wave dual-wavelength lasers at 1342 and 1525 nm are developed by using separate Nd:YVO₄ and YVO₄ crystals to form compactly coupled cavities for fundamental and Raman waves, respectively. The design of the coupled cavity not only reduces the thermal lensing effect in the Nd:YVO₄ crystal, but also improves the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) efficiency in the undoped YVO₄ crystal. In addition, the Raman crystal is coated to form a highly reflective mirror to minimize cavity losses. By using a plano-concave cavity with a pump power of 40 W, the output powers of the fundamental and Raman waves are 470 mW and 310 mW, respectively. Changed to a concave cavity, the output powers of fundamental and Raman waves are 220 mW and 510 mW, respectively. Basis on the dual-wavelength operation, the maximum output power at 714 nm can reach 2.0 W via the sum frequency generation. A light source at 714 nm can be used for laser spectroscopy of atomic and ionic radium isotopes.