LD-pumped actively Q-switched Nd:KLu(WO4)2 self-Raman laser at 1185 nm

•An efficient KLu(WO4)2 self-Raman laser was demonstrated for the first time.•With an incident pump power of 15.4 W, a 1.5 W 1185 nm laser was obtained.•An 11.1 W 1070 nm laser was obtained with an conversion efficiency of 48.0%.

An efficient 1185 nm Nd:KLu(WO4)2 self-Raman laser was demonstrated for the first time. The characteristics of the self-Raman laser at different pulse repetition rates were studied. With an incident pump power of 15.4 W and a pulse repetition frequency of 20 kHz, the maximum output power of 1.5 W was obtained. The optical conversion efficiency from the diode to the Stokes radiation was 9.8%. At a pulse repetition frequency of 10 kHz, the pulse width was 9.5 ns. The corresponding pulse energy and peak power were 112 μJ and 12.3 kW.