Spectroscopy, modeling, and laser operation of thulium-doped crystals at 2.3 /spl mu/m

Author

Sudesh, Vikas ; Piper, J.A.

Author_Institution

Centre for Lasers & Applications, Macquarie Univ., North Ryde, NSW, Australia

Volume

36

Issue

7

fYear

2000

fDate

7/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

879

Lastpage

884

Abstract

Pulsed room-temperature lasers based on the thulium 2.3-/spl mu/m /sup 3/H/sub 4/-/sup 3/H/sub 5/ transition have been achieved in 1.5% Tm:YAG, 2% Tm:LuAG, and 1.5% Tm:YLF crystals using a pulsed alexandrite laser at 785 nm as the pump source in a collinear geometry. The absorbed energy thresholds (slope efficiencies) for 1.5% Tm:YAG, 2% Tm:LuAG, and 1.5% Tm:YLF lasers are measured to be 1.2 mJ (14%), 1.8 mJ (13%), and 1.0 mJ (18%), respectively, which are in good agreement with the theoretically predicted results. The experimental results indicate 1.0 mJ thulium to be the most optimum concentration for 2.3-/spl mu/m laser action. The thulium lasers are tuned around 2.3 /spl mu/m using an intracavity single birefringent plate of quartz.

Keywords

laser transitions; laser tuning; optical pumping; solid lasers; thulium; 2.3 micron; LiYF4:Tm; LuAG:Tm; LuAl5O12:Tm; Tm:LuAG; Tm:YAG; Tm:YLF; YAG:Tm; YAl5O12:Tm; YLF:Tm; absorbed energy threshold; collinear pumping; fluorescence spectroscopy; frequency tuning; intracavity birefringent quartz plate; optical transition; pulsed laser; room temperature operation; slope efficiency; thulium doped crystal; Crystals; Geometrical optics; Laser excitation; Laser modes; Laser theory; Laser transitions; Laser tuning; Optical pulses; Pump lasers; Spectroscopy;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.848362

Filename

848362