Highly efficient diamond Raman laser

We report an efficient 532 nm pumped external cavity diamond Raman laser generating output chiefly at the 573 nm first Stokes. At a pulse repetition rate of 5 kHz, the Raman laser generated 1.2 W output with a conversion efficiency of 63.5%, a slope efficiency of 75%, a pulse peak instantaneous conversion efficiency of 85%, and a peak photon conversion efficiency of 91%. The laser generated a maximum output energy of 0.67 mJ by increasing the pump beam size and the pulse energy. The efficiency is commensurate with the highest previously reported for other Raman materials pumped by Q-switched lasers. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America