Abstract

Recent observations of intrinsically bistable emission of rare earth impurities at low temperature in the compounds Cs₃Y₂Br₉:10%Yb³⁺, Cs₃Lu₂Br₉:10%Yb³⁺, and GsCdBr₃: l%Yb³⁺ were attributed to local field effects enhanced by dipole-dipole interactions among rare earth ions. In the present work, bistable emission is reported at room temperature and multistability is observed in Yb, Tm-doped glass for the first time to our knowledge. The influence of the intrinsic switching process on the stimulated emission and laser oscillation from a channel waveguide fabricated in this material is also investigated and found to be strikingly different from conventional devices. We believe that our results are pertinent to laser materials utilizing high concentrations of many other rare earth ions for compact lasers.

© 1999 Optical Society of America