Spectroscopy and Laser Properties of Yb-Doped Gd₃Al_<i>x</i>Ga_5-<i>x</i>O₁₂Crystal

Abstract

We report the room-temperature spectroscopic properties and the continuous-wave and passive Q-switching laser operations of a new disorder crystal, Yb-doped Gd3AlxGa5-xO12 (Yb:GAGG). The peak absorption cross section is 0.56×10-20 cm2 at 942 nm, while the main emission band is centered at 1024 nm with a peak cross section of 1.05×10-20 cm2 and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 13.8 nm. The highest continuous-wave output power of 5.33 W is obtained with the optical–optical conversion efficiency of 41.6% and slope efficiency of 53.2%. In the passive Q-switching regime, with a V3+:YAG crystal as the saturable absorber, the highest output power, shortest pulse width, largest pulse energy and highest peak power achieved are 4.68 W, 24.7 ns, 93.8 µJ, and 3.8 kW, respectively. The results indicates that Yb:GAGG could be a potential laser crystal for high-power and ultrashort pulse generation.