Ho:Tm lasers. II. Experiments

Author

Lee, Chang J. ; Han, Gooywan ; Barnes, Norman P.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys., Hampton Univ., VA, USA

Volume

32

Issue

1

fYear

1996

fDate

1/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

104

Lastpage

111

Abstract

For pt.I see ibid., vol.32, no.1, pp.92-103 (1996). Laser performance of Ho:Tm:YLF and Ho:Tm:YAG lasers are compared under a wide variety of experimental situations. Laser diode pumping is simulated using a Cr:BeAl₂O₄ laser tuned to the absorption peak of the Tm³H₄ manifold for the respective laser material. Laser performance is characterized by experimentally determining the threshold and slope efficiency, and compared with predicted results of a rate equation model developed in the companion paper. Energy transfer parameters for the rate equation model are calculated using the theory developed in that paper. For these experiments, four different pump pulselengths, six different output mirror reflectivities, different Ho concentrations and different length laser materials were evaluated. Using Ho:Tm:YAG an optical slope efficiency of 0.36 was achieved while with Ho:Tm:YLF an optical slope efficiency of 0.50 was reached

Keywords

holmium; solid lasers; thulium; Cr:BeAl₂O₄ laser; Ho:Tm lasers; Ho:Tm:YAG; Ho:Tm:YLF; LiYF4:Ho,Tm; YAG:Ho,Tm; YAl5O12:Ho,Tm; YLF:Ho,Tm; energy transfer; laser diode pumping; optical slope efficiency; output mirror reflectivity; pump pulselength; rate equation model; threshold; Absorption; Diode lasers; Equations; Laser excitation; Laser modes; Laser theory; Laser tuning; Optical materials; Optical pumping; Pump lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.481925

Filename

481925