Synchronously pumped continuous-wave modelocked yellow Raman laser at 559 nm

We demonstrate the operation of a continuous-wave (CW) picosecond yellow laser operating at 559 nm. A solid-state Raman laser using a KGW crystal was synchronously pumped by an 80 MHz laser operating at 532 nm. The output pulses were compressed from 10 ps at 532 nm down to 3.2 ps at 559 nm, strongly depending on the cavity length detuning. Slope efficiencies up to 42% were observed when the system was optimized for maximum output power. This technique can be extended to a range of visible wavelengths between 550-600 nm by using different Raman materials, and by cascaded conversion. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America