A laser apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a Neodymium-doped lasing material having first and second surfaces and a passive Q-switch optically coupled to the second surface. The first-surface is substantially transparent to a pump radiation and substantially reflective to laser radiation generated by an interaction between the pump radiation and the Neodymium-doped lasing material. The laser radiation is characterized by a vacuum wavelength corresponding to an atomic transition from the .sup.4F.sub.3/2 level to the .sup.4I.sub.9/2 level of Neodymium in the lasing material. The second surface transmits at least a portion of the laser radiation. The lasing material and Q-switch are configured to produce pulses of the laser radiation characterized by a pulse length of greater than zero and less than about 1.5 nanoseconds and a pulse repetition rate greater than about 100 kHz. A PQSL laser, an apparatus for generating blue light and a display system based on the laser apparatus are also disclosed.