Abstract
Tunable near-infrared lasers based on vibronic sideband emission from Cr3+ have proliferated rapidly in the short period since the introduction of alexandrite, which was the first laser medium of this type.1 In most Cr3+ laser crystals, the measured slope efficiencies have been well below the theoretical maximum value. In some cases, the tuning range is also smaller than expected based on the measured wavelength dependence of the emission cross section. Excited-state absorption (ESA) originating from the upper laser level could account for these deviations from ideal performance. We report the results of direct measurements of ESA as well as its influence on laser efficiency.
© 1988 Optical Society of America
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