Abstract

A tunable Er:YAG laser, side pumped by a quasi-cw InGaAs diode array, generates > 500 mW of power at 2.936 μm. The cavity is a 4-cm plano-concave resonator that uses total internal reflection on the pump face of the Er:YAG crystal to couple the diode emission into the resonating modes of the oscillator. Tuning is accomplished by angle tuning a 300-μm-thick YAG étalon. The tuning range is 2.933–2.939 μm. Thermal lensing limits the duty factor to 4% or 8%, depending on the Er:YAG crystal thickness (2 or 1 mm). A 2.5-cm-long resonator operates at an 11% duty factor and generates 1.3 W of average power.

© 1994 Optical Society of America

High-repetition-rate, high-average-power, diode-pumped 2.94-μm Er:YAG laser

C. Ziolek, H. Ernst, G. F. Will, H. Lubatschowski, H. Welling, and W. Ertmer
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Diode-pumped 1-W continuous-wave Er:YAG 3-?m laser

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Appl. Opt. 33(27) 6377-6382 (1994)

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F. Hanson and P. Poirier
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3-μm cw laser operations in erbium-doped YSGG, GGG, and YAG

Bradley J. Dinerman and Peter F. Moulton
Opt. Lett. 19(15) 1143-1145 (1994)