Abstract

Tunable vibronic solid-state lasers have recently attracted the attention of many researchers. To date, however, there have been few reports of work on systems generating high-spectral-purity output as required for high-resolution spectroscopic applications. The typically low gain of broadly tunable solid-state materials coupled with high losses of tuning elements makes the design of such lasers difficult. We have investigated properties of an alexandrite laser in a ring configuration. Figure 1 shows a schematic of this laser. A 8.3- × 102-mm alexandrite rod having 0.12% Cr³⁺ was used. The cavity was formed by four reflecting prisms, and unidirectional operation was provided by a Faraday rotator and λ/2 plate. A live-element birefringent tuner and two etalons 1 and 20 mm thick with 20 % reflective coatings were used as tuning elements. The laser operated at 10 pps and generated a TEM₀₀ mode nearly filling the full aperture of the laser rod.

© 1985 Optical Society of America