Sub-100 ps monolithic diamond Raman laser emitting at 573 nm

We report a compact and efficient picosecond diamond Raman laser at 573 nm wavelength. The laser consists of a 0.5 mm thick single-crystal synthetic diamond coated to form a plane–plane laser resonator, and pumped at 532 nm by a frequency-doubled Q-switched microchip laser system. The pump delivers 85 ps pulses at 100 kHz repetition rate at a maximum average power of ~500 mW. We demonstrate 1st Stokes emission from the diamond Raman laser with maximum power of 175 mW, corresponding to a conversion efficiency of 47% and a pulse duration of 71 ps. Substantial pulse shortening is obtained by proper adjustment of the pump spot diameter on the diamond sample. A minimum pulse duration of 39 ps is reported for a conversion efficiency of 36% and 150 mW output power. The simplicity of the architecture makes the system highly appealing as a yellow picosecond laser source.