A new apatite-structure crystal : Yb3+:SrY4(SiO4)3O, for the generation of diode-pumped cw and sub-100-fs pulsed lasers

Frédéric Druon (1) , Sébastien Chenais (1) , Pierre Raybaut (1) , François Balembois (1) , Patrick Georges (1) , R. Gaume (2) , P.H. Haumesser (2) , B. Viana (2) , D. Vivien (2) , S. Dhellemmes (3) , V. Ortiz (3) , Christian Larat (3)

1 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Elsa
2 LCAES - Laboratoire de Chimie Appliquée de l'État Solide
3 TRT - Thales Research and Technologies [Orsay]

We report what is believed to be the first diode-pumped Yb31:SrY4 _SiO4_3O laser. We investigate both the cw and the mode-locked regimes. In the cw regime an average output power of 1.05 W is demonstrated for 3.6 W of incident pump power. In the femtosecond regime a pulse duration of 94 fs for an average power of 110 mW is obtained at a central wavelength of 1068 nm. This is, to our knowledge, the first femtosecond mode-locked oscillator made with an Yb-doped apatitelike crystal. These properties are related to the unique spectroscopic properties of Yb31 ions in this atypical apatite-family crystal

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Frédéric Druon, Sébastien Chenais, Pierre Raybaut, François Balembois, Patrick Georges, et al.. A new apatite-structure crystal : Yb3+:SrY4(SiO4)3O, for the generation of diode-pumped cw and sub-100-fs pulsed lasers. Optics Letters, 2002, 27 (21), pp.1914-1917. ⟨hal-00700662⟩