Broadly tunable, longitudinally diode-pumped Alexandrite laser

We present design and first performance data of a broadly tunable Alexandrite laser longitudinally pumped by a newly developed high brightness single emitter diode laser module with output in the red spectral range. Replacing the flashlamps, which are usually used for pumping Alexandrite, will increase the efficiency and maintenance interval of the laser. The pump module is designed as an optical stack of seven single-emitter laser diodes. We selected an optomechanical concept for the tight overlay of the radiation using a minimal number of optical components for collimation, e.g. a FAC and a SAC lens, and focusing. The module provides optical output power of more than 14 W (peak pulse output in the focus) with a beam quality of M² = 41 in the fast axis and M² = 39 in the slow axis. The Alexandrite crystal is pumped from one end at a repetition rate of 35 Hz and 200μs long pump pulses. The temperature of the laser crystal can be tuned to between 30 °C and 190 °C using a thermostat. The diode-pumped Alexandrite laser reaches a maximum optical-optical efficiency of 20 % and a slope efficiency of more than 30 % in fundamental-mode operation (M² < 1.10). When a Findlay-Clay analysis with four different output couplers is conducted, the round-trip loss of the cavity is determined to be around 1 %. The wavelength is tunable to between 755 and 788 nm via crystal temperature or between 745 and 805 nm via an additional Brewster prism.