Abstract

The discovery of Cr³⁺ and Nd³⁺-doped oxide garnets such as gadolinium scandium gallium garnet (GSGG) having efficiencies greater than Nd:YAG has led to their proposed use in high-average-power laser systems,¹ The high-stimulated-emission cross section for Nd³⁺ in this material limits the size of the active medium, which will impose limitations on the maximum power output per laser active component. If the Nd³⁺ cross section in this material could be reduced, while keeping other parameters constant, the components could be scaled to larger apertures.

© 1985 Optical Society of America