Self-Raman laser for lidar system

A lidar system comprising:

• a self-Raman laser comprising a Raman-active gain medium and a Q-switch, wherein the self-Raman laser is configured to:
• produce Q-switched pulses of light at a lasing wavelength of the self-Raman laser;
• Raman-shift, in the Raman-active gain medium, at least a portion of the Q-switched pulses to produce Raman-shifted pulses of light, wherein the Raman-shifted pulses have a Raman-shifted wavelength that is longer than the lasing wavelength;
• and
• emit at least a portion of the Raman-shifted pulses, wherein the emitted Raman-shifted pulses of light have optical characteristics comprising:
• a pulse duration less than or equal to 20 nanoseconds;
• a duty cycle less than or equal to 1%;
• a pulse energy greater than or equal to 10 nanojoules;
• and
• a peak power greater than or equal to 1 watt;
• a scanner configured to scan the emitted pulses of light across a field of regard;
• a receiver configured to detect at least a portion of the scanned pulses of light scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system;
• and
• a processor configured to determine the distance from the lidar system to the target based at least in part on a round-trip time of flight for an emitted pulse of light to travel from the lidar system to the target and back to the lidar system.