Tunable intracavity blue/violet light generation in a Cr:LiCAF+BiBO solid-state external-cavity laser

Blue-violet laser radiation has found applications in several fields. Examples of these applications include data storage, laser microscopy, laser projection displays, interferometers, laser printing or fluorescence excitation spectroscopy for biomedicine among others. In this communication we present a tunable blue-violet light source employing a BiBO nonlinear crystal placed intracavity to a diode-pumped Cr:LiCAF laser. The system is capable of delivering 19 mW of tunable blue-violet radiation within a 390-415 nm range. BiBO has been proven to be an efficient nonlinear material [1] and Cr:LiCAF has a broad emission bandwidth around 790 nm due to its vibronic laser nature. Very recently, experimental demonstration of intracavity second harmonic generation of a Cr:LiCAF laser has been achieved for the first time using a LBO crystal [2].