Diode-pumped Birefringent Tunable Nd: YAG Laser with Large Frequency Difference

A dual-frequency Nd: YAG laser which can output two frequencies with frequency difference of more than 5 gigaherz is developed. By inserting and moving an intracavity quartz crystal wedge in diode pumped Nd:YAG laser, It can be obtained and tuned frequency difference in a wide frequency range. The stabilization of frequency difference in free state is much better than that of birefringent dual-frequency He-Ne lasers at similar laboratory conditions. With such a large tunable frequency difference i.e. short synthetic wavelength, the laser may be used as the light source of absolute distance interferometers. In our experiment, the methods for tuning frequency difference by rotating and applying a tunable force on the intracavity quartz plate are also studied.