ULTRAVIOLET SHORT PULSES FROM AN ALL-SOLID-STATE CE-LICAF MASTER-OSCILLATOR-POWER-AMPLIFIER SYSTEM

We have developed an all-solid-state master-oscillator-power-amplifier system employing Ce:LiCAF, a new degradation-free tunable ultraviolet laser medium pumped by the fourth harmonic of conventional 10-ns Q-sw itched Nd:YAG lasers. The low-Q, short-cavity Ce:LiCAF master oscillat or produced a satellite-free 1-ns pulse under appropriate pumping-flue nce control. 18% energy extraction with sufficient gain was achieved i n a single-stage, confocal, double-pass amplifier. As a result, 289-nm , 1-ns, 14-mJ pulses were efficiently obtained from this simple laser system. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.