Shift and broadening of emission lines in Nd3+:YAG laser crystal influenced by input energy

Abstract

Spectroscopic properties of the flashlamp-pumped Nd 3+:YAG laser as a function of input energy were studied over the range of 18–75 J. The spectral widths and shifts of quasi-three-level and four-level inter-Stark emissions within the respective intermanifold transitions of $^{\mathrm {4}}\mathrm {F}_{\mathrm {3/2}}\to ^{\mathrm {4}}{\kern -2.7pt}\mathrm {I}_{\mathrm {9/2}}$ and $^{\mathrm {4}}\mathrm {F}_{\mathrm {3/2}}\to ^{\mathrm {4}}{\kern -2.7pt}\mathrm {I}_{\mathrm {11/2}}$ were investigated. The emission lines of $^{\mathrm {4}}\mathrm {F}_{\mathrm {3/2}}\to ^{\mathrm {4}}{\kern -2.7pt}\mathrm {I}_{\mathrm {9/2}}$ shifted towards longer wavelength (red shift) and broadened, while the positions and linewidths of the $^{\mathrm {4}}\mathrm {F}_{\mathrm {3/2}}\to ^{\mathrm {4}}{\kern -3.5pt}\mathrm {I}_{\mathrm {11/2}}$ transition lines remained constant by increasing the pumping energy. This is attributed to the thermal population as well as one-phonon and multiphonon emission processes in the ground state. This phenomenon degrades the output performance of the lasers.