Abstract

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is a powerful tool for generating a frequency-shifted coherent field SRS is usually achieved by introducing an intense laser field into a Raman cell or by using an intracavity Raman cell inserted in a laser resonator However, no experimental demonstrations of SRS using a laser medium itself have been reported yet Laser-diode-pumped microchip solid-state lasers have a wide variety of applications because of their high efficiency, compact size, and potential for high quality beams Among the many solid-state laser materials available, Nd-doped lasers are used most often for practical devices In such lasers, the circulating intensity of the intracavity laser field is thought to be high because of the microcavity configuration, i e. small beam spot size. However, activation of phonon energies by impurity ions can be expected in solid-state laser materials [1] In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time intracavity-stimulated Raman emission in the phonon sideband in laser-diode-pumped microchip Nd solid-state lasers, such as Nd:YAG, Nd:YVO₄, and LiNdP₄O₁₂(LNP), in which no Raman cell is used Stokes shifts are about 3000 cm^–1, yielding phonon-sideband (Stokes) emissions around 15 µm

© 2000 IEEE