Visible laser operation of Pr3+-doped fluoride crystals pumped by a 469 nm blue laser

We report continuous-wave (CW) laser operation of Pr3+-doped LiLuY4, LiYF4 and KY3F10 single crystals in the Red, Orange and Green spectral regions by using a new pumping scheme. The pump source is an especially developed compact, slightly tunable and intracavity frequency-doubled diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser delivering a CW output power of 0.9W at 469.12 nm. At this pump wavelength, efficient room temperature laser emissions corresponding to the P-3(0)-> F-3(2), P-3(0)-> H-3(6) and P-3(1)-> H-3(5) Pr3+ transitions are observed. While a maximum slope efficiency of 45% is obtained in the red with Pr:LiYF4, the demonstration is made for the first time of the orange laser operation of Pr:KY3F10 at about 610 nm. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America