Performance of a diode-pumped BaY₂F₈:Er³⁺(7.5 at.%) laser at 2.8 μm

Abstract

An Er3+-doped BaY2F8 laser crystal with a dopant concentration of 7.5 at.% is quasi-cw-pumped longitudinally with the combined beams of two diode lasers. The pump wavelength is 967 nm, the output wavelength ranges from 2.7 to 2.8 μm. The dependence of slope efficiency and threshold power on the reflectance of the resonator mirrors, on the focus of the pump light, and on the resonator length is investigated. The best results are 24% for the slope efficiency and 16 mW for the threshold.