Efficient blue light generation from a diode laser pumped Nd : YAG laser

We report on the efficient intracavity doubling of a 946 nm Nd:YAG laser wi th an LBO crystal at room temperature. A CW single-ended output power of 10 3 mW at 473 nm is obtained at a pump power of 2.58 W with an optical conver sion efficiency of 4.0%. The overall efficiency is 7.2% if blue light outpu t from both directions is taken into account. To our knowledge, this is the highest efficiency to date for a diode laser pumped compact Nd:YAG blue la ser with a simple flat-concave resonator using a bulk nonlinear crystal for intracavity doubling. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reser ved.