Abstract
Continuous-wave laser emission at 2.02 µm has been generated at room temperature using a 12% Tm3+:YAG monolithic laser rod longitudinally pumped by a laser diode. This is the first report of a cw room-temperature 2-µm Tm3+ laser pumped by a laser diode. Previous researchers have pumped this transition at room temperature using other laser sources1 and achieved cw operation at 77 K.2 In addition, the present experiments demonstrate the generation of two (2-µm) laser photons for each absorbed (785-nm) pump photon. The threshold for laser emission is 17.2 mW, and the slope efficiency with laser diode pumping is 56 %. The high efficiency of this system Is due to a cross-relaxation process that has been previously studied in laser emission at 2.1 µm in Tm:Ho:YAQ.3
© 1988 Optical Society of America
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