A continuously pumped repetitively Q-switched ruby laser and applications to frequency-conversion experiments

A repetitively Q -switched ruby laser with 30-kW 30-ns pulses, suitable for many nonlinear optics experiments, is described. Using this laser SHG in KDP located outside the laser cavity yielded ≳ 4-kW pulses at 3472 A with conversion efficiencies of ∼16 percent at the peak. A correction to existing SHG theories accounting for pump depletion (important at high conversions) has been calculated with the resulting improvement in agreement between theory and experiment. Experiments involving stimulated Raman scattering and vacuum UV generation from laser-produced plasmas are briefly described.