Synchronously pumped picosecond Raman laser utilizing an LiIO3 crystal

An experimental investigation was made of a Raman laser emitting picosecond optical pulses from an LiIO₃ crystal (λ_l = 1.143 μm), pumped synchronously by a train of pulses from a phosphate neodymium glass laser with mode self-locking (λ_p = 1.054 μm). The time characteristics of the Raman laser radiation were determined as a function of the mismatch of the resonator lengths. When the resonator lengths were matched, the duration of the output pulses was shortened by a factor of 7 or 8 compared with the pump pulses. In this case, the duration of the output pulses was ~ 1 ps and the energy conversion efficiency was ~ 30%.