Cr⁴⁺-doped mixed alloy laser materials and lasers and methods using the materials

摘要

A laser medium includes a single crystal of Cr⁴⁺:Mg_2-xM_xSi_1-yA_yO₄, where, where M is a bivalent ion having an ionic radius larger than Mg²⁺, and A is a tetravalent ion having an ionic radius larger than Si⁴⁺. In addition, either a) 0≦x2 and 0y1 or b) 0x2 and y is 0 or 1 with the proviso that if M is Ca²⁺ 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.