ULTRABROADBAND OPERATION OF A CR4-FORSTERITE LASER BY USE OF A SPATIALLY DISPERSED RESONATOR()

Ultrabroadband (half-width of 88 nm) nanosecond Cr4+:forsterite oscill ation was achieved simultaneously in the 1170-1340-nm range [1085 cm(- 1)) by use of a spatially dispersed resonator with an intracavity pris m pair. The laser demonstrates 4.8% real pump-to-laser efficiency. The oscillation build-up time for different spectral components is around 20 ns and varies by only 2.5 ns in the 1190-1260-nm region. which ind icates that the ultrabroadband laser represents a complex multifrequen cy laser system with nonlinear spectral mode interaction. (C) 1998 Opt ical Society of America.