Development of UV solid state laser sources based on Cerium activated crystals

In this work we present some laser experimental achievements obtained with the Ce:LiCaAIF(6) (Ce:LiCAF) active medium. The Ce:LiCAF belongs to the family of fluorides Ce3+ activated, which emit in the near UV with tunable emission. In particular it emits in the band 280-315 nm. The laser action was obtained by pumping Ce:LiCAF with frequency quadrupled Nd:YLF and Nd:YAG lasers. We developed a multi-kHz tunable laser with high quality beam, tunable in the range 280-315 nm and with an average power exceeding hundred of mW, pumping with a pulsed Nd:YLF laser. Due to the high quality of Ce:LiCAF crystal we grew, we were able to obtain the highest ever reported slope efficiency. We achieved also the highest ever reported energy of 26 mJ for a Ce:LiCAF tunable oscillator pumping with a single low repetition rate Nd:YAG IVth harmonic laser. The wavelength coverage is further extended in the range 225-230 nm by means of nonlinear frequency mixing of the Ce:LiCAF output with the residual emission of the fundamental wavelength of the Nd:YAG laser.