Figure1. Energy level diagrams of Tm-Ho laser system. Figure2. Schematic diagram of the Tm,Ho laser system. Solid-state lasers operating in the eye-safe 2 m spectral region have attracted great attention due to the demands of applications such as medical treatment, remote sensing and effective pump sources for 3–5 m optical parametric oscillators (OPOs). In some special applications such as remote sensing, the laser output is required to operate at high average powers as well as high atmospheric transmission. Scientists from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (TIPCCAS) reported a compact high power Tm,Ho:YAG laser nearly at room temperature. The laser-diode side-pumped Tm:YAG and Tm,Ho:YAG laser modules are operated in the same cavity. The laser yields 37.34W of continuous wave output power under the temperature of 6 ∘C, corresponding to a maximum slope efficiency of 16.7% when the output power lies from 5.1W to 27.0 W. This is the first report on the combined Tm:YAG and Tm,Ho:YAG lasers for obtaining high power 2.1 μm laser. |
