Abstract

Efficient single-frequency operation of a Ho:YAG ring laser at room temperature with a traveling-wave ${\mathrm{TeO}}_2$ acousto-optic modulator to enforce unidirectional operation is reported. By use of a 2-at. % ${\mathrm{Ho}}^{3+}$-doped 10-mm-long Ho:YAG rod, end pumped by a cladding-pumped tunable Tm-doped silica fiber operating at $1.9 \mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$, the Ho:YAG ring laser yielded 3.7 W of single-frequency output at $2.1 \mathit{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ in a diffraction-limited ${\mathrm{TEM}}_{00}$ beam with $M^2<1.1$ for an incident pump power of 8.8 W. The rf power required for unidirectional operation was 0.3 W and corresponded to an increase in cavity loss for the lasing direction (due to diffraction) of only 0.5%. The prospects for further improvement in efficiency are discussed.

© 2004 Optical Society of America

Ho:YAG laser intracavity pumped by a diode-pumped Tm:YLF laser

M. Schellhorn, A. Hirth, and C. Kieleck
Opt. Lett. 28(20) 1933-1935 (2003)

2-W Ho:YAG laser intracavity pumped by a diode-pumped Tm:YAG laser

C. Bollig, R. A. Hayward, W. A. Clarkson, and D. C. Hanna
Opt. Lett. 23(22) 1757-1759 (1998)

Room-temperature operation of a multiwatt Tm:YAG laser pumped by a 1-µm Nd:YAG laser

P. B. Phua, K. S. Lai, R. F. Wu, Y. L. Lim, and Ernest Lau
Opt. Lett. 25(9) 619-621 (2000)

Resonantly pumped monolithic nonplanar Ho:YAG ring laser with high-power single-frequency laser output at 2122 nm

Lei Wang, Chunqing Gao, Mingwei Gao, and Yan Li
Opt. Express 21(8) 9541-9546 (2013)

Efficient mid-infrared laser using 1.9-µm-pumped Ho:YAG and ZnGeP₂ optical parametric oscillators

P. A. Budni, L. A. Pomeranz, M. L. Lemons, C. A. Miller, J. R. Mosto, and E. P. Chicklis
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 17(5) 723-728 (2000)