Diode-pumped intracavity yellow–green Raman laser at 560nm with sum-frequency-generation☆☆This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11104161 and No. 11104162 and No. 11104160) and Open Project of State Key laboratory of Crystal Material, (Shandong University, KF1103).

Abstract By using Nd:YVO 4 as the gain medium and the Raman medium simultaneously, KTP as the sum-frequency crystal, the actively Q-switched operation of the 560 nm Raman laser by sum-frequency generation was realized. The output characteristics versus the incident pump power and the pulse repetition rates were investigated. At a pulse repetition rate of 40 kHz an average power up to 0.9 W was obtained with the incident pump power of 13.7 W, corresponding to a conversion efficiency of 6.6% with respect to the diode laser input power.