“…The Er 3+ ions in fluoride and oxide crystals, just as for Ho 3+ ions, have spectroscopic properties that are favourable for cascade SE excitation [18,170]. This very attractive principle of laser action in activated crystals was first realized in Er 3+ ions by the direct cascade scheme 4 S 3/2 → 4 I 13/2 → 4 I 15/2 (CaF 2 -YF 3 :Er 3+ [75,178]). The overwhelming majority of cascade laser schemes have been performed with Er 3+ -and Ho 3+ -doped crystals (see also [149, 173, 179-181, 183, 184]).…”