Broadly tunable (402–535 nm) intracavity frequency-doubled Cr:LiSAF laser

We report a low-cost and compact Cr:LiSAF laser system with ultrabroad tunability in the near infrared and visible. The system is pumped by two state-of-the-art 210 mW single-mode red diodes, and in continuous-wave (cw) lasing experiments, an output power up to 190 mW, a tuning range of 795–1103 nm, and a slope efficiency of 54% is achieved. Via intracavity frequency-doubling with beta-barium borate (BBO) crystals, a record cw second-harmonic tuning range continuously covering the spectral regions from violet to green (402–535 nm) is demonstrated. Despite the simple pump system, cw frequency-doubled power levels up to 17.5 mW could be reached at 422.5 nm, which corresponds to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 4.2% and electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 1.4%. We believe that this compact, low-cost, and simplistic Cr:LiSAF laser system may be an attractive source for several applications including spectroscopy, atom cooling/trapping, and quantum optics