Abstract

Color centers which are substitutional in character, like many of the nitrogen-related defects in diamond, are well-suited to the achievement of tunable laser action at room temperature. In particular, high densities of H3 centers permit efficient generation of coherent visible radiation¹ in the spectral range 500-600 nm. The optical, thermal and mechanical properties of diamond are also excellent, but the crystal is difficult and expensive to grow. Here we present experimental results which demonstrate that the prospects for a family of color center lasers spanning the visible and near-infrared in Type Ib synthetic diamond are nevertheless very good.

© 1986 Optical Society of America