Theoretical and experimental investigations of a diode-pumped quasi-three-level laser: the Yb/sup 3+/-doped Ca/sub 4/GdO(BO/sub 3/)/sub 3/ (Yb:GdCOB) laser

Author

Augé, F. ; Druon, F. ; Balembois, F. ; Georges, P. ; Brun, A. ; Mougel, F. ; Aka, G. ; Vivien, D.

Author_Institution

Lab. Charles Fabry de l´´Inst. d´´Opt., CNRS, Orsay, France

Volume

36

Issue

5

fYear

2000

fDate

5/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

598

Lastpage

606

Abstract

We present a theoretical and experimental analysis of a diode-pumped Yb/sup 3+/-doped Ca/sub 4/GdO(BO/sub 3/)/sub 3/ (Yb:GdCOB) laser. A new model for a diode-pumped quasi-three-level laser is described. The effects of absorption saturation, temperature profile, and the beam quality M/sup 2/ factor of the pump diode have been taken into account, for the first time to our knowledge. We have obtained a good agreement between experimental measurements and theoretical calculations with two different pump wavelengths, 902 and 976 nm. Our model has given good predictions of the laser performances for different crystal temperatures and different M/sup 2/ factors of the pump beam. As much as 440 mW of output power (at 1082 nm) have been achieved for 640 mW of absorbed pump power at 976 nm, corresponding to one of the highest slope efficiencies (81%) ever obtained with Yb-doped lasers.

Keywords

calcium compounds; gadolinium compounds; laser beams; optical materials; optical pumping; optical saturable absorption; solid lasers; ytterbium; 1082 nm; 440 mW; 640 mW; 81 percent; 902 nm; 976 nm; Ca/sub 4/GdO(BO/sub 3/)/sub 3/:Yb; M/sup 2/ factors; Yb-doped lasers; Yb/sup 3+/:Ca/sub 4/GdO(BO/sub 3/)/sub 3/ laser; Yb:GdCOB laser; absorbed pump power; absorption saturation; beam quality M/sup 2/ factor; crystal temperatures; diode-pumped laser; diode-pumped quasi-three-level laser; laser performances; output power; pump beam; pump diode; pump wavelengths; slope efficiencies; temperature profile; Absorption; Diodes; Laser beams; Laser excitation; Laser modes; Laser theory; Predictive models; Pump lasers; Temperature; Wavelength measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.842102

Filename

842102