Tm^3+-doped LuYO_3 mixed sesquioxide ceramic laser: effective 205  μm source operating in continuous-wave and passive Q-switching regimes

Abstract

Tm:LuYO ceramic is reported as an effective laser gain medium, for the first time to the best of our knowledge. For continuous-wave laser operation, a maximum output power of 1.55 W with a slope efficiency of 19.9% is achieved at 2050 nm. Passive Q-switching of the Tm:LuYO ceramic is operated using a Cr:ZnSe saturable absorber. Single-wavelength Q-switching at 2047 nm is obtained with a maximum average output power of 0.54 W, a pulse width of 120.3 ns, a pulse energy of 20.5 μJ, and a pulse peak power of 170.6 W. Simultaneous dual-wavelength Q-switching at 1957 and 2047 nm is also attained with corresponding parameter values of 0.92 W, 151.6 ns, 30.2 μJ, and 199.1 W. These results indicate that Tm:LuYO ceramic lasers could be a promising laser source operating in the eye-safe spectral region.

Laser‐quality Tm:(Lu0.8Sc0.2)2O3 mixed sesquioxide ceramics shaped by gelcasting of well‐dispersed nanopowders

“…The threshold of absorbed pump power was 3.2 W and the maximum output power centered at 2090 nm reached 1.88 W with a slope efficiency of 24.6% (with respect to the input pump power). As compared with the previous reported mixed sesquioxide ceramics, the lasing performance in the present work was considerably improved . However, the optical to optical efficiency was only 14.1%.…”

“…Xu et al reported the CW laser output of 2 at% Tm:LuScO 3 ceramics at 1982 nm and the output power was 211 mW with a slope efficiency of 8.2%. As reported by Zhou et al, Tm:LuYO 3 ceramics were also fabricated and the maximum output power at 2050 nm was 1.55 W with a slope efficiency of 19.9%. In Jing's literature, a 4.76 at% Tm:(Lu 2/3 Sc 1/3 ) 2 O 3 transparent ceramics generated 1 W output laser at 2100 nm with a slope efficiency of 24% with respect to absorbed pump power .…”

“…The relative low transmittance at lower wavelength was caused by the residual nanometer pores (observed in Figure D), which activated higher Rayleigh scattering when light passed through the ceramic. Note that, according to Rayleigh's equation, the scatter intensity is proportional to λ −4 ( λ is the wavelength) when the scatter center is smaller than the transmittance wavelength …”

“…Very recently, ~2 μm laser operation based on Tm 3+ ‐doped mixed sesquioxide ceramics were reported . Xu et al reported the CW laser output of 2 at% Tm:LuScO 3 ceramics at 1982 nm and the output power was 211 mW with a slope efficiency of 8.2%.…”

Self-Q-switched and wavelength-tunable tungsten disulfide-based passively Q-switched Er:Y2O3 ceramic lasers

“…After that, a variety of Er 3 -doped laser materials have been developed based on fluoride and oxide hosts [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. In recent years, sesquioxides, as desired host materials, have excited rising research interest for high-power laser sources because of their good thermomechanical property [11][12][13]. Moreover, rare-earth ions doped into sesquioxides could generate ultrafast lasers because of spectral broadening of the optical transitions arising from large splitting of the ground state [14,15].…”