https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202430906008
High-power intracavity upconversion pumped Tm:YLF laser emitting at 2.3 μm
1 Université Paris-Saclay, Institut d'Optique Graduate School, CNRS, Laboratoire Charles Fabry, 91127 Palaiseau, France
2 Centre de Recherche sur les Ions, les Matériaux et la Photonique, UMR 6252 CEA-CNRS-ENSICAEN, Université de Caen, 6 Boulevard Maréchal Juin, 14050 Caen Cedex 4, France
3 Chimie ParisTech, PSL University, CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris, 11 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
4 Oxxius S.A, 4 rue Louis de Broglie, 22300 Lannion, France
* Corresponding author: frédéric.druon@institutoptique.fr
Published online: 31 October 2024
A Tm:LiYF4 laser operating on the 3H4 → 3H5 transition is integrated into a high-power diode-pumped Nd:ASL laser for intracavity upconversion pumping at 1.05 μm. This architecture leads to a record-high output power at 2.3 μm ever extracted from any upconversion pumped Thulium laser. The continuous-wave Tm-laser yields 1.81 W at 2.3 μm at 32 W of laser-diode pump power at 0.8 μm, rivalling direct diode pumping. The intracavity pumping mitigates weak absorption inherent to the upconversion pumping scheme and disperses the deposited heat over two laser crystals. This laser design minimizes heating of the Tm-crystal and enhances the tolerance to Tm3+ excited-state absorption, being promising for high-power 2.3-μm solid-state lasers based on thulium ions.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
