Infrared (1.2-1.6 mu m) luminescence in Yb, Cr : YAG with 940 nm diode pumping

Infrared (1.2-1.6 mum) luminescence in a yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) crystal, co-doped with Yb (10 at.%) and Cr (0.05 at.%) ions, was investigated under CW laser diode pumping (lambda = 940 nm). The Cr4+ emission band was observed with its peak at 1.35 mum and measured to be about 6% with respect to Yb3+ IR luminescence (lambda = 1.03 mum). Analysis of the crystal absorption and luminescence spectra allows one to conclude that Yb3+-Cr4+ energy transfer is a mechanism responsible for the B-3(2)(T-3(2))-B-3(1)((3)A(2)) emission of Cr4+ ions. This crystal is promising as an efficient source of the near infrared emission. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Infrared (1.2-1.6 mu m) luminescence in Cr4+: Yb3Al5O12 single crystal with 940 nm diode pumping

Infrared (1.2-1.6 mu m) luminescence in a ytterbium aluminium garnet (YbAG) crystal, doped with Cr (0.05 at.%) ions, was investigated under CW laser diode pumping (lambda = 940 nm). The Cr4+ emission band was observed with its peak at 1.34 mu m and measured to be about 1.3 times with respect to Yb3+ IR luminescence (lambda = 1.03 mu m). We demonstrate that for the excitation wavelength of 940 nm Yb3+ ions act as sensitizers of the B-3(2)(T-3(2))-B-3(1)((3)A(2)) emission of Cr4+ ions. This crystal is promising as a high-efficient system for tunable laser (1.2-1.6 mu m) output. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Efficient tunable diode-pumped Yb : LYSO laser

We demonstrated efficient laser action of a new ytterbium-doped oxyorthosilicate crystal Yb:LuYSiO5 ( Yb: LYSO) under high-power diode-pumping. The spectroscopic features and laser performance of the alloyed oxyorthosilicate crystal are compared with those of ytterbium-doped lutetium and yttrium oxyorthosilicates. In the continuous-wave laser operation of Yb: LYSO, a maximal slope efficiency of 96% and output power of 7.8 W were respectively achieved with different pump sources. The Yb: LYSO laser exhibits not only little sensitivity to the pump wavelength drift but also a broad tunability. By using a dispersive prism as the intracavity tuning element, we demonstrated that the continuous-wave Yb: LYSO laser exhibit a continuous tunability in the spectral range of 1014-1091 nm. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.

Low-threshold diode-pumped Yb3+, Na+: CaF2 self-Q-switched laser

For the first time to our knowledge, the laser performance of Yb3+, Na+-codoped CaF2 single crystals was demonstrated. Self-Q-switched laser operation at 1050nm was observed for 976 nm diode pumping at room temperature. On 5 W of incident power, the repetition rate and width of the self-Q-switched pulses reached 28 kHz and 1.5 mu s, respectively. A maximal slope efficiency of 20.3% and minimal threshold absorbed pump power of 30 mW were respectively achieved with different output couplers, showing the promising application of Yb3+, Na+-codoped CaF2 crystals as compact and efficient solid-state lasers. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Diode-pumped room-temperature continuous wave Tm3+ doped Lu2SiO5 laser

We report on room temperature laser actions of a novel thulium-doped crystal Tm center dot Lu2SiO5 (LSO) under diode pumping. An optical optical conversion efficiency of 12% and a slope efficiency of 21% were obtained with the maximum continuous wave (CW) output power of 0.67 W. The emission wavelengths of Tm LSO laser were centered at 2058.4 nm with bandwidth of similar to 13.6 nm.

板条激光放大器中寄生振荡的研究

寄生振荡的存在使得放大器在信号光到达之前消耗了大量的反转粒子数,降低了放大器的激光增益和储能效率,严重地影响了激光放大器的性能,尤其对高功率激光放大器。在理论分析和实验研究的基础上,以Nd∶YAG晶体板条为例,用8条半导体激光阵列对晶体进行双侧抽运,研究了高功率激光放大器的寄生振荡现象,分析了板条晶体寄生振荡产生的原因,并详细比较了晶体在不同的抽运功率和表面处理下的放大效果,得到了2倍的单程放大,当输入能量为140 mJ时,获得了278 mJ的激光输出。

传导冷却的全固态zigzag板条激光器

报道了激光二极管泵浦的被动传导冷却的Q开关Nd:YAG zigzag 板条激光器，谐振腔采用平平腔和非稳腔。在20Hz运转时，得到脉宽均为10ns的150 mJ，光光效率19%的多模输出和100 mJ、13%光学效率的单模输出，并进行了相关的热效应测试，结果表明该激光器具有效率高、结构紧凑、光束质量好，在空间环境应用具有很好的发展潜力。

Efficient laser oscillation of Yb : Y3Al5O12 single crystal grown by temperature gradient technique

Low-threshold and highly efficient continuous-wave laser performance of Yb:Y3Al5O12 (Yb:YAG) single crystal grown by a temperature gradient technique (TGT) was achieved at room temperature. The laser can be operated at 1030 and 1049 nm by varying the transmission of the output coupler. Slope efficiencies of 57% and 68% at 1049 and 1030 nm, respectively, were achieved for 10 at. % Yb:YAG sample in continuous-wave laser-diode pumping. The effect of pump power on the laser emission spectrum of both wavelengths is addressed. The near-diffraction-limited beam quality for different laser cavities was achieved. The excellent laser performance indicates that TGT-grown Yb:YAG crystals have very good optical quality and can be potentially used in high-power solid-state lasers.

Optical spectroscopy of Yb3Al5O12 single crystal

Yb3Al5O12 single crystal has been grown by Czochralski (CZ) method. The absorption spectrum was investigated at low temperature and the electronic energy levels for F-2(5/2) multiplet of Yb3+ in YbAG was proposed. The up-conversion emission of the crystal under 940 nm diode pumping and the X-ray excited luminescence (XEL) features of the crystal were also studied. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

激光二极管抽运Na，Yb共掺CaF2晶体自调Q激光特性的研究

利用激光二极管（LD）抽运新型Na．Yb共掺CaF2（Na．Yb：CaF2）晶体，获得了1．05μm的自调Q激光输出。利用透射率1％的耦合输出镜，得到最低激光输出的抽运阈值功率仅为70mW。在透射率为2％的输出镜条件下，得到最大输出激光功率为390mw，此时激光的斜度效率达到20%。实验详细记录了自调Q脉冲的周期和宽度随抽运功率的变化关系，随着抽运功率的增加，自调Q脉冲的周期和宽度呈指数衰减。同时，还采用单棱镜进行光谱调谐实验，获得了1036～1059nm的自调Q激光调谐输出。

Investigation of the spectroscopic properties of Yb3+-doped yttrium lanthanum oxide transparent ceramic

Spectroscopic properties of (Y0.9-xLa0.1Ybx)(2)O-3 transparent ceramic were studied. Two main absorption peaks of the specimen are centered at 940 and 970 nm, which are suitable for InGaAs laser diode pumping. The main emission peaks were located at 1032 and 1075 nm with larger emission cross-section and longer fluorescence lifetime than those of Yb:Y2O3. These properties of (Y0.9-xLa0.1Ybx)(2)O-3 transparent ceramic are favorable to achieve high efficiency and high power laser output. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High quantum fluorescence yield of Er3+ at 1.5 mu m in an Yb3+, Ce3+-codoped CaF2 crystal

For the first time, a quaternary doping system of Er3+, Yb3+, Ce3+, Na+:CaF2 single crystal was demonstrated to have high fluorescence yield in the eye-safe 1.5 mu m region under 980 nm laser diode pumping, with relatively broad and flat gain curves. A simplified model was established to illustrate the effect of Ce3+ on the branching ratio for the Er3+4I11/2 -> I-4(13/2) transition. With 0.2-at.% Er3+ and 2.0-at.% Ce3+ in the quaternary-doped CaF2 crystal, the branching ratio was estimated to be improved more than 40 times by the deactivating effect of Ce3+ on the Er3+ 4I11/2 level. The quaternary-doped CaF2, system shows great potential to achieve high laser performance in the 1.5 mu m region. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Judd-Ofelt analysis of spectra and experimental evaluation of laser performance of Tm3+ doped Lu2SiO5 crystal

This paper reports that the TM3+:Lu2SiO5 (Tm:LSO) crystal is grown by Czochralski technique. The room-temperature absorption spectra of Tm:LSO crystal are measured on a b-cut sample with 4 at.% thulium. According to the obtained Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Omega(2)=9.3155 x 10(-20) cm(2), Omega(4)=8.4103 x 10(-20) cm(2), Omega(6)=1.5908 x 10(-20) cm(2), the fluorescence lifetime is calculated to be 2.03 ms for F-3(4) -> H-3(6) transition, and the integrated emission cross section is 5.81 x 10(-18) cm(2). Room-temperature laser action near 2 mu m under diode pumping is experimentally evaluated in Tm:LSO. An optical-optical conversion efficiency of 9.1% and a slope efficiency of 16.2% are obtained with continuous-wave maximum output power of 0.67 W. The emission wavelengths of Tm:LSO laser are centred around 2.06 mu m with spectral bandwidth of similar to 13.6 nm.

A laser-diode-pumped acoustic-optic Q-switched Nd:YVO4 slab laser with a hybrid resonator

A 32.1 W laser-diode-stack pumped acoustic-optic Q-switched Nd:YVO4 slab laser with hybrid resonator at 1064 nm was demonstrated with the pumping power of 112 W and repetition rate of 40 kHz, the pulse duration was 32.47 ns. The slope efficiency and optical-to-optical efficiency were 37 and 28.7%, respectively. At the repetition rate of 20 kHz and pumping power of 90 W, the average output power and pulse duration were 20.4 W and 20.43 ns, respectively. With the pumping power of 112 W, the beam quality M-2 factors in CW operation were measured to be 1.3 in stable direction and 1.6 in unstable direction.

Efficient diode-pumped Yb : Gd2SiO5 laser

An efficient diode-pumped laser was demonstrated by using an ytterbium-doped laser crystal, Yb:Gd2SiO5 (Yb:GSO), wherein Yb3+ ions exhibit the largest ground-state splitting among all the ytterbium-doped crystals. The Yb:GSO laser can be operated at a low pumping threshold, and the most efficient laser occurs around 1088 nm since the corresponding emission band has the largest emission cross section and the lowest thermal population. A slope efficiency of 75% was demonstrated for a continuous-wave Yb:GSO laser at 1094 nm, and self-pulsed lasers were achieved within the tunable range of 1091-1105 nm, which are the longest laser wavelengths achieved for Yb3+ lasers. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.