Patent ID: 7197059

Claim:
A diode-pumped, solid-state laser that emits an output beam having a short wavelength, comprising: a laser cavity including a first and a second end mirror; a gain medium situated within said laser cavity, said gain medium including a rare-earth doped solid state material providing a lasing transition from an upper laser level to a lower laser level; and a laser diode pump source arranged to pump said gain medium, said laser diode pump source having a wavelength in the range of about 365 nm to 480 nm to excite said rare-earth element to an energy level at least equal to said upper laser level, thereby providing a laser emission from said lasing transition within said laser cavity in the range of 370 to 800 nm, wherein said rare-earth doped gain medium comprises an active ion comprising Sm 3+ , and wherein said lasing transition is to a terminal level 4 G 5/2 from said upper laser level which is selected from one of 6 H 5/2 , 6 H 7/2 , 6 H 9/2 , and 6 H 11/2 .