Spectroscopic studies of the 1.5 mu m (~4I_(15/2) - ~4I_(13/2)) emission from polycrystalline ceramic Er:YAG and Er:KPb_2Cl_5

摘要

The 1.5 mu m emission from Er~(3+) ions continues to be of current interest for applications in optical communications and eye-safe solid-state lasers. Recently, significant attention has been focused on the development of 1.5-1.6 mu m Er~(3+) solid-state lasers with resonant pumping of the ~4I_(13/2) <->~4I_(15/2) transition. The motivation for resonantly pumped Er~(3+) lasers lies in the reduced thermal load, which is critical for high power laser application. In this work we present results of the infrared optical properties of polycrystalline ceramic EnYAG and Er:KPb_2Cl_5 including absorption and emission studies, lifetime measurements, and calculations of 1.5 mu m emission cross-sections using the reciprocity and Fuchtbauer-Ladenburg methods.