Title :
Temperature development in Yb:YAG thin-disk lasers at high inversion densities confirming nonlinear losses
Author :
Wolters, Ulrike ; Beil, Kolja ; Krankel, Christian ; Petermann, K. ; Huber, Gunter
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Laser Phys., Univ. of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Abstract :
In this work Yb:YAG ceramics (Konoshima Chemical Co. Ltd.) and single crystals are compared regarding thin-disk laser performance and temperature in the active medium.The authors correlate the lacking performance of Yb:YAG laser media with the photoconductivity which arises in this material upon pumping with 940 nm laser radiation. Here, an upconversion mechanism creates free charge carriers at high Yb-concentrations and high inversion densities. The analogies between both phenomena provide an essential understanding of the origin of the nonlinear laser losses.
Keywords :
laser beams; optical losses; optical pumping; photoconductivity; solid lasers; ytterbium; YAG:Yb; Yb:YAG ceramics; active medium temperature; high inversion densities; laser radiation; nonlinear losses; photoconductivity; pumping; single crystals; thin-disk laser performance; upconversion mechanism; wavelength 940 nm; Ceramics; Crystals; Laser excitation; Laser theory; Power lasers; Pump lasers; Solid lasers;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe (CLEO EUROPE/IQEC), 2013 Conference on and International Quantum Electronics Conference
Conference_Location :
Munich
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-0593-5
DOI :
10.1109/CLEOE-IQEC.2013.6800640
