We present the first multi-Watt demonstration of a diode pumped cryogenically cooled neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser operating at 946 nm on the 4F3/2 to 4I9/2 transition. 3.8 W of continuous wave output power for 12.8 W of absorbed pump was obtained with a slope efficiency of 47%. In addition, we made an extensive characterization of the spectroscopic properties around the pump and laser wavelengths over the temperature range of 77 K to 300 K to find an increase of ~2.5 times for both the absorption and emission cross sections at the lowest temperature.
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