We report on the first demonstration of diode-pumped wavelength-tunable Yb3+-doped low silica calcium aluminosilicate (LSCAS) glass lasers. Using a 976 nm diode laser as pump source, a Yb:LSCAS laser has been successfully achieved with a maximum output power of about 0.28 W. Using an MgF2 thin plate as birefringence filter, we have found that the lasing wavelength can be tuned with a range of about 60 nm. We have also analyzed the intracavity round-trip loss of the current laser cavity, and related it to the optical quality of the used Yb glass. This sheds light on the path of the development of upcoming Yb3+ glass lasers in the future since it has many advantages, and after improving the optical quality, the wide and smooth emission spectrum of Yb:LSCAS will be very conducive to obtaining femtosecond pulse lasers.
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