Abstract

We investigated the lasing and pulse amplification characteristics of chromium-doped forsterite with high Cr⁴⁺-ion concentration. Using this crystal of which size was only 5×5×5 mm³, laser oscillation was achieved by pumping with 1064 nm pulses from a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser. The output energy of over 1.2 mJ, and high slope efficiency of 25 %, which is the highest value achieved in the case of pulse operation to our knowledge, were obtained. The one-pass gain measured by the pump-and-probe technique was 1.7 for 5 mm gain length when the pumping energy density was 0.74 J/cm².

© 1996 Optical Society of America