Abstract

Many potential applications motivate the development of efficient, compact 1 µm laser systems with operational lifetimes capable of exceeding thousands of hours. Yb-doped laser hosts offer spectroscopic and laser properties that make them promising candidates for high power 1 µm laser systems. In particular, Yb:YAG has a long storage lifetime of 951 us and a very low quantum defect resulting in less heat generation during lasing than comparable Nd based systems.¹ In addition, the broad pump line at 940 nm makes this material highly suitable for diode pumping using InGaAs based diode-pumped lasers that are more robust than AlGaAs diode-pumped lasers which are used to excite Nd:YAG at approximately 808 nm. Because the 940 nm absorption feature in Yb:YAG is approximately 10 times broader than the 808 nm absorption feature in Nd:YAG, the Yb:YAG system is less sensitive to the diode wavelength specifications.

© 1996 Optical Society of America