Abstract

Chromium-doped YAG (Cr:YAG) laser, first demonstrated by Shestakov et al.[1], is a recently developed solid-state laser source tunable in the wavelength region around 1.4 µm. We describe here a detailed characterization of this laser system pumped by a continuous-wave Nd:YAG laser. The experiments were performed using a 2 cm long Brewster-angled Cr:YAG crystal with 93% absorption at 1.06 µm, placed in an astigmatically compensated z-cavity. Using a 2% transmitting output coupler and approximately 5.2 W of absorbed pump power, output powers as high as 1.1 W have been obtained. Data showing the dependence of the ouput power on crystal temperature, absorbed pump power and wavelength will be presented and the overall cw performance of this laser system will be compared with chromium-doped forsterite and NaCl:OH lasers.

© 1993 Optical Society of America