Watt-level laser operation of Pr3+:YLF at 696 and 698 nm

We report continuous-wave deep red lasers at 696.6 and 698.6 nm in a Pr³⁺:YLF crystal pumped by an InGaN laser diode. A Lyot filter was inserted into the cavity as a birefringent filter to select wavelength; the lasers at 696.6 and 698.6 nm were obtained with a maximum output power of 1.36 and 3.11 W, separately. To the best of our knowledge, the output powers of these two lasers are the highest to date, and this is the first scaling of the output power of the Pr³⁺:YLF lase...