Ceramic Laser Materials

Abstract

Ceramic laser materials have come a long way since the first demonstration of lasing in 1964. Improvements in powder synthesis and ceramic sintering as well as novel ideas have led to notable achievements. These include the first Nd:yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) ceramic laser in 1995, breaking the 1 KW mark in 2002 and then the remarkable demonstration of more than 100 KW output power from a YAG ceramic laser system in 2009. Additional developments have included highly doped microchip lasers, ultrashort pulse lasers, novel materials such as sesquioxides, fluoride ceramic lasers, selenide ceramic lasers in the 2 to 3 μm region, composite ceramic lasers for better thermal management, and single crystal lasers derived from polycrystalline ceramics. This paper highlights some of these notable achievements.

Spectroscopy of C3i and C2 sites of Nd3+-doped Lu2O3 sesquioxide either as ceramics or crystal

“…However, it is extremely difficult to grow Lu 2 O 3 single crystal using conventional crystal growth methods because of its high melting point (2490 1C) [1]. It is much easier to fabricate Lu 2 O 3 into a ceramic structure since the sintering temperature is about 700 1C lower than its melting point, and no expensive crucible is required [2][3][4][5]. As a result, spectroscopic data of Nd 3 þ laser ions are needed in Lu 2 O 3 host, either as single crystal or as ceramics.…”

Microstructure evolution of SiO2, ZrO2-doped Y3Al5O12:Nd3+ ceramics obtained by reactive sintering

“…The doping of YAG by tetravalent Zr ions results in formation of yttrium vacancies (2) or oxygen interstitials (3). Defect formation mechanism (2) predicts that Al,16a site (0.0535 nm) is preferred over the Al,24d site (0.039 nm).…”

“…Development of novel polycrystalline functional materials via controlling of their microstructure through ceramic processing is one of the most important tasks of modern optical materials science [1][2][3]. Substantial progress has been made in creation of advanced techniques for consolidation of ceramic nanopowders into bulk optical ceramics for various functional applications.…”

High-efficiency lasing and spectroscopy of domestic 1%Nd:YAG and 1%Ho:YAG ceramics

“…Significant progress in the synthesis of oxide laser ceramics achieved in recent years allowed one, in particular, to obtain large size (up to 50 mm in diameter) samples of Nd:YAG ceramics with comparatively low intrinsic losses and residual porosity [3,4] by domestic pressing and sintering technologies [5,6]. Laser ceramics has some important advantages compared to single crystals, among which are the relatively simple synthesis of large-size samples, the possibility of producing multilayer and composite ceramic structures, and a comparatively low production cost [7]. In common, highly transparent ceramics are very promising for high-volume applications such as large gain media for multi-kilowatt diode pumped lasers and amplifiers.…”