Tunable ultraviolet and blue light generation from Nd:YAB random laser bolstered by second-order nonlinear processes

Ultraviolet and blue light were obtained by nonlinear frequency conversion in a random laser (RL) based on Nd(0.10)Y(0.90)Al(3)(BO(3))(4) nanocrystalline powder. RL operation at 1062 nm, due to the (4)F(3/2) → (4)I(11/2) transition of neodymium ions (Nd(3+)), was achieved by exciting the Nd(3+) with a tunable beam from 680 to 920 nm covering the ground state absorption transitions to the (4)F(9/2), ((4)F(7/2),(4)S(3/2)), ((4)F(5/2),(2)H(9/2)), and (4)F(3/2) states. Light from 340 to 460 nm was obtained via the second-harmonic generation of the excitation beam while tunable blue light, from 417 to 486 nm, was generated by self-sum-frequency mixing between the excitation beam and the RL emission.