Spectroscopy and efficient laser action under diode-pumping of a new broadly tunable crystal : Yb3+:Sr3Y(BO3)3

Sébastien Chenais (1) , Frédéric Druon (1) , François Balembois (1) , Patrick Georges (1) , Romain Gaume (2) , P.H. Haumesser (2) , Bruno Viana (2) , Gerard Aka (2) , Daniel Vivien (2)

1 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Elsa
2 LCAES - Laboratoire de Chimie Appliquée de l'État Solide

The first demonstration of laser action in a Yb31:Sr3Y(BO3)3 crystal is reported. This new material exhibits particularly broad absorption and emission bandwidths (6 and 60 nm, respectively) and hence is of particular interest for diode-pumped femtosecond and tunable laser sources. Efficient operation from diode pumping (1.4 W of cw laser power obtained with 3.6 W of diode pump power and as much as 3.4 W of peak power from high-power quasi-cw pumping) together with smooth tunability (over 50 nm FWHM) is reported. For the comparison, efficiency and thermal limitations of Yb:glass and Yb:Ca4GdO(BO3)3 have been investigated under the same conditions

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Sébastien Chenais, Frédéric Druon, François Balembois, Patrick Georges, Romain Gaume, et al.. Spectroscopy and efficient laser action under diode-pumping of a new broadly tunable crystal : Yb3+:Sr3Y(BO3)3. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 2002, 19 (5), pp.1083-1091. ⟨hal-00701626⟩