Resonantly pumped mid-infrared Ho:YAG/BaWO4 intracavity Raman laser at 2640 nm

•First demonstration of a Ho:YAG/BaWO4 intracavity Raman laser at 2640 nm.•Highest peak power of 14.4 kW is obtained at the repetition frequency of 1 kHz.•Maximum output power of 473 mW is achieved at the repetition frequency of 5 kHz. We report on a mid-infrared 2640 nm intracavity Raman laser based on BaWO4 Raman conversion in a resonantly pumped actively Q-switched Ho:YAG laser. At the pulse repetition frequency of 1 kHz, the threshold pump power is as low as 2.1 W at 1.91 μm. Increasing the incident pump power to 3.6 W, the pulse energy and the pulse width are 105 µJ and 7.32 ns respectively, which corresponds to a peak power as high as 14.4 kW. When the pulse repetition frequency is increased to 5 kHz, the maximum average output power of 473 mW is achieved under a 9.8 W incident pump power. The mid-infrared pulse laser has potential applications in chemical sensing, environmental monitoring, and laser medicine.