The prospects for Yb- and Nd-doped tungstate microchip lasers

Author

Savitski, Vasili G. ; Birch, R.B. ; Fraczek, E. ; Kemp, Andreas J. ; Loiko, P.A. ; Yumashev, K.V. ; Kuleshov, N.V. ; Pavlyuk, A.A.

Author_Institution

Inst. of Photonics, Univ. of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

fYear

2013

fDate

12-16 May 2013

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

1

Abstract

Potassium gadolinium and yttrium tungstates doped with trivalent Nd, Yb or Tm ions are widely used crystals for efficient diode-pumped lasers. They are usually oriented along the b crystallographic axis, which is also the N_p axis of optical indicatrix. The N_p-cut is characterized by a strong thermal lens with opposing signs along N_m and N_g [1]. This is unsuited to microchip lasers which require a positive thermal lens for a stable cavity. Therefore, a detailed investigation of thermo-optic effects and microchip laser potential of other crystallographic orientations in tungstate crystals is of interest.

Keywords

crystal orientation; gadolinium compounds; laser cavity resonators; laser stability; microchip lasers; neodymium; potassium compounds; thermal lensing; ytterbium; yttrium compounds; KGd(WO₄)₂:Nd; KY(WO₄)₂:Yb; Nd-doped tungstate microchip lasers; Yb-doped tungstate microchip lasers; b crystallographic axis; crystallographic orientation; diode-pumped lasers; optical indicatrix; potassium gadolinium tungstates; potassium yttrium tungstates; stable cavity; thermal lens; thermo-optic effects; Crystals; Laser excitation; Lenses; Microchip lasers; Power lasers; Pump lasers; Thermal lensing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

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

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CLEOE-IQEC.2013.6800602

Filename

6800602