Laser emission from polished NdP5O14 crystals with directly applied mirrors

We report on crystal processing, laser fabrication, emission spectra and output characteristics of neodymium pentaphosphate lasers. We obtained cw oscillation with an output power of 19 mW from a crystal with dielectric mirrors directly applied on polished (001) planes. We pumped longitudinally with 280 mW of an argon ion laser at 514 nm focussed to a 94-μm diameter. Near threshold our laser operated in the vicinity of 1053 nm; when pumped 1.6 times threshold it operated dominantly in the vicinity of 1063 nm.