Energy scaling, second Stokes oscillation and Raman gain-guiding in monolithic diamond Raman lasers

Energy scaling of the 1st Stokes oscillation is compared in micro-lensed and plane-plane monolithic diamond Raman lasers under 532 nm pumping. A maximum Raman pulse energy of 92 µJ at 573 nm was achieved with the micro-lensed device, while in a plane-plane configuration the maximum Raman pulse energy was 3.1 mJ. 2nd Stokes generation at 620 nm in 2 and 1 mm long micro-lensed monolithic diamond Raman lasers is also reported. The best conversion efficiency from the pump at 532 nm, namely 63 %, was observed in a 2 mm long crystal at the pump pulse intensity of 4.5 GW/cm². By measuring the output Raman laser beam caustic it was found that the 2nd Stokes intracavity beam radius at the output coupler of the micro-lensed device is at least two times smaller than that expected from the ABCD matrix calculations of the resonator mode. A Raman gain-guiding mechanism is suggested to explain this difference.