Blue laser emission by intracavity second harmonic generation in Nd:ASL pumped by a tapered amplifier laser diode stabilized by a volume Bragg grating

Abstract : We present the diode pumping of a Nd:ASL (Sr$_{1-x}$La$_{x-y}$Nd$_y$Mg$_x$Al$_{12-x}$O$_{19}$) crystal for second harmonic generation at 453 nm. We have developed a high-brightness pump source based on a tapered amplifier in an extended cavity with a volume Bragg grating for wavelength stabilization. A pump brightness of 110 MW.cm$^{-2}$sr$^{-1}$ is obtained with a linewidth lower than 80 pm at 798 nm. This laser source is used to pump a Nd:ASL crystal to obtain 300 mW at 906 nm and 53 mW at 453 nm by intracavity doubling with a LBO crystal.