Generation of yellow laser light based on Nd/sup 3+/: aperiodically poled lithium niobate

We report generation of continuous-wave yellow laser radiation in an aperiodically poled crystal of lithium niobate doped with Nd/sup 3+/ laser-active ions. A linear cavity which exploits longitudinal hole burning allows for simultaneous oscillation of the two infrared laser channels /sup 4/F/sub 3/2//spl rarr//sup 4/I/sup 11/2/ and /sup 4/F/sub 3/2//spl rarr//sup 4/I/sub 11/2/ of Nd/sup 3+/, otherwise prevented by a "winner takes all the gain" dynamics. Yellow laser radiation at 605 nm results from intracavity self-sum-frequency-mixing of fundamental laser waves at 1084 and 1372 nm generated simultaneously in both channels.