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

fYear

2013

fDate

12-16 May 2013

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

1

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;

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.2013.6800640

Filename

6800640