Transversely pumped yellow-green laser using color centers in the lithium fluoride crystal at room temperature

A stable yellow-green laser with F-3(+) color centers and unidentified color centers in the lithium fluoride crystal is constructed using transversely pumped cavity operated at room temperature (RT). The laser is pumped with a pulse dye laser pumped by a nitrogen laser. The maximum single pulse output of the laser is 0.18 mJ. The optical-optical conversion efficiency is about 4.0%. The laser polarization is about 0.995. The divergence of the laser beam is about 2.0 mrad. The laser output extends from 520 to 630 nm. The laser operates stably for several hours at RT without using any cooling equipment. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.