All-solid-state continuous-wave frequency-doubled Nd:YAG-BiBO laser with 2.8-W output power at 473 nm

We report on a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser with 4.6 W of linear polarized continuous-wave (cw) output power on the F-4(3/2) --> I-4(9/2) transitions at 946 nm. Three different crystals, cut for critical type I phase matching at room temperature, are used for the intracavity frequency doubling of the laser: 10-mm-long LiB3O5 (LBO), an 8-mm-long beta-BaB2O4 (BBO), and a 10.4-mm-long BiB3O6 (BiBO) grown by FEE GmbH. Up to 2.8 W of cw output power in the blue spectral range at 473 nm has been achieved with the BiBO crystal (2.1 W with BBO and 1.5 W with LBO). (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.