Abstract

It has been shown that laser-diode-pumped lasers using the material Tm:Ho:YAG can be constructed at room temperature.¹ The material Tm:Ho:YAG is of interest because of its eye-safe wavelength of 2.1 µm. When pumped by laser diodes emitting at 0.78 µm, conversion efficiency of 74% is theoretically possible.² The fluorescent lifetime of 8 ms creates the potential for high-energy pulsed operation with moderate levels of cw pumping. Since the lower laser level of the Ho ion is partially occupied at room temperature, the performance of these lasers is expected to improve as temperature is reduced.

© 1988 Optical Society of America