Abstract

Cr³⁺-doped Ga garnets present a new class of transition metal ion laser which can operate pulsed¹ as well as cw² at room temperature. Due to a low-crystal field at the Cr site the ⁴A₂-⁴T₂ splitting is nearly equal to the ⁴A₂-²E separation. Thus in contrast to ruby or alexandrite,³ the fluorescence is totally dominated by the broadband four-level ⁴T₂ → ⁴A₂ transition.

© 1983 Optical Society of America