Elizabeth R. Kupp

Efficient resonantly pumped tape cast composite ceramic Er:YAG laser at 1645 nm

Laser operation of a composite ceramic Er:YAG rod is demonstrated at 1645 nm with a slope efficiency of 56.9% under resonant pumping at 1532.3 nm. This is believed to be the first reported composite ceramic Er:YAG laser and also the first reported use of a tape cast technique for producing laser ceramics.

Co-casting and optical characteristics of transparent segmented composite Er:YAG laser ceramics

A novel colloidal co-casting process was developed to fabricate laser quality, multisegment composite ceramic laser gain materials. The approach was demonstrated for a three segment transparent composite rod 62 mm long by 3 mm diameter consisting of undoped yttrium aluminus garnet (YAG), 0.25% Er:YAG, and 0.5% Er:YAG. The Er concentration profile in the composite has steep, controllable gradients at the segment interfaces, while maintaining constant dopant concentrations within each segment. The composite rod has 84% transmittance at 1645 nm (the lasing wavelength) with a scatter loss of 0.4% cm −1 . Laser operation of such a composite Er:YAG ceramic rod was demonstrated for the first time, with nearly equivalent lasing behavior to an Er:YAG single crystal rod.

Efficient Resonantly-Pumped Eye-Safe Composite Ceramic Er:YAG Laser

Laser operation of a composite ceramic Er:YAG rod is demonstrated at 1645 nm with a slope efficiency of 56.9% under resonant pumping. This is believed to be the first reported composite ceramic Er:YAG laser.