Abstract
Macrodefect-free single crystals of Yb-doped KGd(PO(3)), a noncentrosymmetric laser host which possesses second-order nonlinear susceptibility, were grown using the top seeded solution growth slow-cooling (TSSG-SC) technique, reaching a maximum ytterbium concentration in the crystal of approximately 3.2x10(20) at/cm(3). In order to evaluate the potential for self-frequency doubling, the dispersion of the refractive indices of KGd(PO(3))(4) was studied and Sellmeier equations were constructed which are valid in the visible and near-infrared. The Stark splitting of the two electronic states of ytterbium was determined from absorption and emission measurements at room and low temperatures, and this allowed to compute the emission cross sections at room temperature. The fluorescence decay time is quite long, 1.22+/-0.01 ms. Laser generation in the 1 mum range is demonstrated with this new Yb host for the first time. Although the maximum output power achieved, of the order of 100 mW, was limited by the available crystal size and doping level, the more than 55% slope efficiency obtained with this first sample is rather promising for the future.
Highlights
Solid-state laser sources in the visible play an important role in laser technology because they are potentially interesting for numerous applications like high-density optical data storage or laser displays
The ytterbium ion is an interesting alternative to neodymium in the same wavelength range near 1 μm while the second harmonic is in the green region
Ytterbium has no bands in the green region, so the inevitable reabsorption losses of neodymium in the wavelength range of the second harmonic can be avoided
Summary
Solid-state laser sources in the visible play an important role in laser technology because they are potentially interesting for numerous applications like high-density optical data storage or laser displays. More recently highly efficient laser operation in several crystals exhibiting second order nonlinearity, doped with ytterbium, was reported. The ytterbium ion is an interesting alternative to neodymium in the same wavelength range near 1 μm while the second harmonic is in the green region This is due to several important advantages. The rather large band-gap, on one hand, should lead to high damage resistivity, on the other hand it allows in principle the use of this host in the UV range (either as a nonlinear crystal or as a host for cerium) Another advantage of KGP is its almost isotropic thermal expansion [7] which is important for the crystal growth, processing of laser elements, and during laser operation. An a*-oriented parallelepipedic seed of undoped KGP was used to grow the crystal
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