Yb:YAG as material to generate pulsed laser radiation with energies in the Joule range

The goal of our investigations is the design of a laser system supplying ns-pulses with pulse energies in the Joule-range. Pulse energies in this range are interesting for a number of applications in remotes sensing. Yb:YAG seems to be a very adequate choice for realizing higher pulse energies, because of its long fluorescence lifetime and high quantum efficiency. However, there is hardly any investigation of this topic in the literature. It is advantageous when realizing high pulse energies to work with a large gain. To achieve this, a bulk geometry of the active laser material has to be used. Thus, we have chosen a transversely pumped laser rod for our considerations.