Title :
Laser demonstration of Yb3Al5O12 (YbAG) and materials properties of highly doped Yb:YAG
Author :
Patel, Falgun D. ; Honea, Eric C. ; Speth, Joel ; Payne, Stephen A. ; Hutcheson, Ralph ; Equall, Randy
Author_Institution :
Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab., CA, USA
fDate :
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
We have demonstrated the first stoichiometric Yb3+ laser based on Yb3A5O12 (YbAG). The laser operated in pulsed mode with a highest possible duty cycle of 85%. A slope efficiency of 27%, with respect to absorbed energy, was measured and the free-running lasing wavelength was 1048 nm for a 10% duty cycle. In a systematic analysis, measurements of spectroscopic and materials properties of (YbxY1-x)3Al5O 12 for nominal x values of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.18, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 are reported. We also present a formalism to calculate the intrinsic fluorescence quantum efficiency (free of radiation trapping) and the fraction of reabsorbed light, based on measurements of the bulk and intrinsic emission lifetimes and the fractional thermal loading. Our best YbAG sample has an intrinsic lifetime of 0.664 ms at 94% quantum efficiency and a thermal conductivity at room temperature of 0.072 W/(cm-K)
Keywords :
fluorescence; garnets; laser modes; laser transitions; optical materials; solid lasers; stimulated emission; thermal conductivity; ytterbium; ytterbium compounds; 0.664 ms; 1048 nm; 27 percent; 94 percent; YAG:Yb; YAl5O12:Yb; Yb3A5O12; Yb3Al5O12; YbAG; absorbed energy; duty cycle; fractional thermal loading; free-running lasing wavelength; highly doped Yb:YAG; intrinsic emission lifetimes; intrinsic fluorescence quantum efficiency; intrinsic lifetime; laser demonstration; materials properties; pulsed mode; quantum efficiency; reabsorbed light; room temperature; slope efficiency; spectroscopic properties; stoichiometric Yb3+ laser; systematic analysis; thermal conductivity; Energy measurement; Fluorescence; Laser modes; Material properties; Optical pulses; Spectroscopy; Temperature; Thermal conductivity; Thermal loading; Wavelength measurement;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
