Title :
Q-switching of 1.54-/spl mu/m Er/sup 3+/:glass and 1.34-/spl mu/m Nd/sup 3+/:YAlO/sub 3/ lasers using Co/sup 2+/:LaMgAl/sub 11/O/sub 19/ crystal
Author :
Yumashev, K.V. ; Denisov, I.A. ; Posnov, N.N. ; Mikhailov, V.P. ; Moncorge, R. ; Vivien, D. ; Guyot, Y.
Author_Institution :
Int. Laser Center, Belarussian State Polytech. Acad., Minsk, Byelorussia
Abstract :
Summary form only given. A number of tetrahedrally coordinated Co/sup 2+/-doped materials such as Y/sub 3/Al/sub 5/O/sub 12/, Y/sub 3/Sc/sub 2/Ga/sub 3/O/sub 12/, ZnSe, and glass ceramic are known as saturable absorbers for passive Q-switching of 1.5 /spl mu/m Er/sup 3+/:glass lasers. On the other hand, the tetrahedral Co/sup 2+/ ion in number of crystals exhibits strong broad luminescence bands in the visible and near-infrared that allows to consider the Co/sup 2+/-doped crystals as possible active medium for a tunable solid-state laser. We study saturable absorber Q-switch operation and nonlinear optical properties of Co/sup 2+/:LaMgAl/sub 11/O/sub 19/ (LMA) crystal. Passive Q-switching of a Er/sup 3+/:glass laser at 1.54 /spl mu/m and a Nd/sup 3+/:YAlO/sub 3/ laser at 1.34 /spl mu/m using the Co/sup 2+/:LMA crystal as saturable absorber has been demonstrated. Q-switched pulses of 30 ns and 75 ns duration were obtained for the 1.54 /spl mu/m Er/sup 3+/:glass laser and 1.34 /spl mu/m Nd/sup 3+/:YAlO/sub 3/ lasers, respectively. The measurement data on differential absorption spectra under 540 nm and 1.08 /spl mu/m wavelength picosecond excitation are presented and analyzed.
Keywords :
Q-switching; cobalt; erbium; lanthanum compounds; laser beams; laser tuning; magnesium compounds; neodymium; optical glass; optical materials; optical pulse generation; optical saturable absorption; solid lasers; yttrium compounds; 1.08 mum; 1.34 mum; 1.54 mum; 30 ns; 540 nm; 75 ns; Co/sup 2+/:LaMgAl/sub 11/O/sub 19/; Co/sup 2+/:Y/sub 3/Al/sub 5/O/sub 12/; Co/sup 2+/:Y/sub 3/Sc/sub 2/Ga/sub 3/O/sub 12/; Co/sup 2+/:ZnSe; Er/sup 3+/:glass laser; LaMgAl/sub 11/O/sub 19/:Co; Nd/sup 3+/:YAlO/sub 3/ laser; Q-switched pulses; Q-switching; YAlO/sub 3/:Nd; active medium; broad luminescence bands; differential absorption spectra; glass ceramic; near-infrared laser; nonlinear optical properties; passive Q-switching; saturable absorber; saturable absorber Q-switch operation; saturable absorbers; tetrahedral Co/sup 2+/ ion; tetrahedrally coordinated Co/sup 2+/-doped materials; tunable solid-state laser; visible laser; wavelength picosecond excitation; Ceramics; Crystals; Erbium; Glass; Luminescence; Neodymium; Particle beam optics; Solid lasers; Tunable circuits and devices; Zinc compounds;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics, 1999. CLEO '99. Summaries of Papers Presented at the Conference on
Conference_Location :
Baltimore, MD, USA
Print_ISBN :
1-55752-595-1
DOI :
10.1109/CLEO.1999.833983
