Efficient picosecond and nanosecond Raman laser performance of BaWO/sub 4/ crystal

Summary form only given. BaWO/sub 4/ with a frequency shift of 925 cm/sup -1/ has been recently proposed as a promising candidate for high efficiency Raman scattering for pumping with laser pulses in the range from picoseconds to nanoseconds. One of the highest Raman gain values among known solid-state Raman shifters in both steady state and transient pumping configurations has been measured in this crystal. This encouraged us to further explore the Raman lasing properties of the material in various configurations. Nd:YAG mode-locked and two Q-switched Nd:YAP and Nd:YAG laser systems were used for nonlinear media pumping.