Abstract

Microchip lasers are typically formed by applying dielectric mirrors directly to two near-parallel surfaces of a thin slice of laser gain material. Nd:YVO₄ is a commonly used gain material in microchip lasers because of its short absorption depth and high stimulated emission cross section [1,2]. The ⁴F_3/2 – ⁴I_13/2 transition of Nd³⁺ occurs at 1342nm in Nd:YVO₄ with a stimulated emission cross-section of 5.88×10^-19cm² for 1% Nd³⁺ doping, 6 times larger than the 1.3μm transition in Nd: YAG [2],

© 1996 IEEE