ABSTRACT
Greater than 12 W of average output power has been generated from a diode-pumped Yb:YAG cladding-pumped planar waveguide laser. The laser radiation developed is linearly polarized and diffraction limited in the guiding dimension. A slope efficiency of 0.5 W/W with a peak optical-optical conversion efficiency of 0.31 W/W is achieved. In a related structure, greater than 8 W of Q -switched average output power has been generated from a Nd:YAG cladding-pumped planar waveguide laser by incorporation of a Cr(4+): YAG passive Q switch monolithically into the waveguide structure. Pulse widths of 3 ns and pulse-repetition frequencies as high as 80 kHz have been demonstrated. A slope efficiency of 0.28 W/W with a peak optical-optical conversion efficiency of 0.21 W/W is achieved.
ABSTRACT
Ytterbium-doped Sr(5)(PO(4))(3)F was successfully lased at 985 nm in quasi-cw mode with a slope efficiency of 74% and an absorbed threshold energy of 18 mJ. Q-switched slope efficiencies of 21% were obtained with a maximum energy of 9.4 mJ in 8.8-ns pulses.
ABSTRACT
We report room-temperature mid-IR laser operation in a new low-phonon-frequency nonhygroscopic host crystal, calcium thiogallate (CaGa(2)S(4)) . Laser action at 4.314.38 mum on the Dy(3+)H(11/2)(6)?H(13/2)(6) transition occurred with a maximum slope efficiency of 1.6%.
ABSTRACT
A tunable Er:YAG laser, side pumped by a quasi-cw InGaAs diode array, generates > 500 mW of power at 2.936 microm. The cavity is a 4-cm plano-concave resonator that uses total internal reflection on the pump face of the Er:YAG crystal to couple the diode emission into the resonating modes of the oscillator. Tuning is accomplished by angle tuning a 300-microm-thick YAG étalon. The tuning range is 2.933-2.939 microm. Thermal lensing limits the duty factor to 4% or 8%, depending on the Er:YAG crystal thickness (2 or 1 mm). A 2.5-cm-long resonator operates at an 11% duty factor and generates 1.3 W of average power.
ABSTRACT
We have performed several physical and optical measurements on the Cr:LiSAF (LiSrAlF(6)) laser material that are relevant to its laser performance, including thermal and mechanical properties, water durabilities, and Auger upconversion constants. The expansion coefficient, Young's modulus, fracture toughness, thermal conductivity, and heat capacity are all used to determine an overall thermomechanical figure of merit for the crystal. An investigation of the water durability suggests that the cooling solution should be maintained at pH = 7 to ameliorate problems associated with water dissolution. The Auger constant was found to become much more significant at higher Cr doping, in which excited-state migration leads to a substantial increase in the upconversion rate. We propose a design for a 50-W Cr:LiSAF laser system that is based on a detailed knowledge of all the relevant material parameters.
ABSTRACT
A ground-state-depleted laser is demonstrated in the form of a Q-switched oscillator operating at 912 nm. By using Nd(3+) as the active ion and Y(2)SiO(5) as the host material, the laser transition is from the lowest-lying Stark level of the Nd(3+4)F(?) level to a Stark level 355 cm(-1) above the lowest-lying one in the (4)I(9/2) manifold. The necessity of depleting the ground (4)I(9/2) manifold is evident for this level scheme as transparency requires a 10% inversion. To achieve the high excitation levels required for the efficient operation of this laser, bleach-wave pumping using an alexandrite laser at 745 nm has been employed. With KNbO(3), noncritical phase matching is possible at 140 degrees C using d(32) and is demonstrated.
ABSTRACT
We report a laser cavity measurement of stimulated-emission cross sections for both the (5)F(1)-(5)I(5) (0.93-microm) and (5)F(1)-(5)I(6) (1.1-microm) laser transitions of Pm(3+) ions in a lead-indium-phosphate glass host. The measured cross sections for these two transitions are 1.8 x 10(-20) (+/-11%) and 2.8 x 10(-20) cm(2) (+/-22%), respectively. These values agree with previously reported values based on a Judd-Ofelt-type analysis of spectroscopic data.