Efficient cross-relaxation laser emitting at<i>λ</i>= 2.94 μ

Abstract

An analysis was made of a new configuration of a laser utilizing the 4I11/2–4I11/2 transition in the Er3+ ions in YAG with a high activator concentration (~5×1021cm−3). It is shown that at a certain excitation rate the cross-relaxation processes increase considerably the lasing efficiency and make it possible to achieve cw emission as a result of transitions from a long-lived lower level.