Realization of a Practical CW Titanium Sapphire Laser

Abstract

The performance of the cw Ti:sapphire laser is singularly impressive: it exhibits about three times the tuning range and output power of a cw dye laser operating in the same spectral region. This performance is the result of several key factors. One has been the significant improvement in quality of commercially available Ti:sapphire over the last several years. A second factor, and one just as important as improved material quality, is the design of a laser cavity optimized for cw operation. In this paper we review a model for a longitudinally pumped cw Ti:sapphire laser utilizing a folded, astigmatically compensated optical cavity. We discuss the performance of this laser as well as new results in extending its tuning range and frequency doubling the output with KNbO₃.