Cr.sup.4-doped mixed alloy laser materials and lasers and methods using the materials

摘要

A laser medium includes a single crystal of Cr.sup.4:Mg.sub.2-xM.sub.xSi.sub.1-yA.sub.yO.sub.4, where, where M is a bivalent ion having an ionic radius larger than Mg.sup.2, and A is a tetravalent ion having an ionic radius larger than Si.sup.4. In addition, either a) 0.ltoreq.x<2 and 0<y<1 or b) 0<x<2 and y is 0 or 1 with the proviso that if M is Ca.sup.2 and x=1 then y is not 0. The laser medium can be used in a laser device, such as a tunable near infrared (NIR) laser.