Sub-megahertz compact self-pulsed Raman laser

Abstract

Abstract Broadband self-pulsed Raman laser operating at sub-megahertz (sub-MHz) has been widely used in optical sensing, high-spectral-resolution lidar, frequency-division multiplexing, and optical communication. However, it is a big challenge for achieving stable self-pulsed Raman laser oscillation in a wide pump power range. Here, we construct a compact Yb:YAG/YVO4 Raman laser for generating broadband self-pulsed laser operating at high repetition rate. The effects of cavity length (LC) and Raman crystal length (LR) on the performance of self-pulsed Raman laser have been investigated. By utilizing a 1.5 mm-thick YVO4 crystal as a Raman crystal, the repetition rate increases dramatically from 62 to 280 kHz when the LC decreases from 10 to 4 mm. Meanwhile, the pulse width of 0.66 μs and peak power of 1.1 W are achieved for the self-pulsed Raman laser with LC = 4 mm. For the 4 mm-long Raman laser cavity constructed with a 2 mm-thick YVO4 crystal, the pump power range enable for self-pulsed Raman laser oscillation extends from 1.8 to 3.9 W, the repetition rate has been further increased from 258 to 467 kHz. While the peak power and pulse width are 0.6 W and 0.98 μs, respectively. The Yb:YAG/YVO4 self-pulsed Raman laser oscillates in broadband multi-longitudinal-mode, the spectral bandwidth is 27.4 nm covering from 1051.1 to 1078.5 nm. Utilization of a tilted 2 mm-thick YVO4 crystal as output coupler to construct compact Yb:YAG/YVO4 self-pulsed Raman laser dramatically expands the pump power range for generating high repetition rate self-pulsed Raman laser. Sub-MHz self-pulsed Raman lasers with a wide spectral bandwidth have potential applications in materials processing, quantum information processing, and optical communications.