AlGaAs diode pumped tunable chromium lasers

摘要

An all-solid-state laser system is disclosed wherein the laser is pumped in the longwave wing of the pump absorption band. By utilizing a laser material that will accept unusually high dopant concentrations without deleterious effects on the crystal lattice one is able to compensate for the decreased cross section in the wing of the absorption band, and the number of pump sources which can be used with such a material increases correspondingly. In a particular embodiment a chromium doped colquiriite-structure crystal such as Cr:LiSrAlF6 is the laser material. The invention avoids the problems associated with using AlGaInP diodes by doping the Cr:LiSrAlF6 heavily to enable efficient pumping in the longwave wing of the absorption band with more practical AlGaAs diodes.