670 nm semiconductor lasers for lithium spectroscopy with 1W

A master oscillator power amplifier system operating around 670 nm is presented. For the master laser an external cavity diode laser is used with an output power of 25 mW at tunable wavelength and with narrow line width. A tapered amplifier boosts the power up to 970 mW while maintaining the spectral characteristics and keeping the beam quality close to the diffraction limit. The performance of the laser system is presented and a Lithium spectrum depicting the suitability of the system for Lithium spectroscopy, cooling and trapping.