Abstract

We report to the best of our knowledge the first demonstration of a continuous wave (cw) Pr³⁺:LuAlO₃ laser. So far, only pulsed laser action has been shown [1]. Extensive spectroscopic investigations have been performed on this material in the course of scintillator research [2]. But the trivalent praseodymium ion is also interesting for visible solid-state lasers because of its energy level scheme enabling several transitions in the red, orange, green, and blue spectral range. In fluorides like LiYF₄ efficient laser action has been realised, which is of interest for display applications [3,4]. However, oxides provide better mechanical and chemical properties and are easier to fabricate, mostly at lower costs. LuAlO₃ is a suitable oxidic host for a Praseodymium laser due to its energetically high lying 5d-levels [5], which are the final states of detrimental excited-state-absorption that prevents laser action.

© 2009 IEEE