End-pumped Yb-doped fluorapatite laser

Abstract

An ytterbium:fluorapatite (Yb:FAP) laser crystal was longitudinally pumped using a Ti:sapphire laser emitting at 905 nm. The highest slope efficiency obtained was 60.5%, and the maximum output power was 214 mW with a pump power of 438 mW. Repetitive Q-switching was demonstrated for the first time. The Q-switched average power was identical to the continuous-wave (CW) power at repetition rates exceeding 20 kHz, as is consistent with the 1.08-ns emission lifetime.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>