Development of UV solid state laser sources based on Cerium activated crystals
Year: 2005
Authors: Alderighi D., Toci G., Vannini M., Mazzoni M., Tonelli M., Parisi D., Sato H., Niklc M.
Autors Affiliation: IFAC-CNR, Via Madonna del Piano, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy; Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Pisa, Via Buonarroti 2, I-56127 Pisa, Italy; Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan; Institute of Physics ASCR, Cukrovarnicka 10, 16253 Prague, Czech Republic
Abstract: In this work we present some laser experimental achievements obtained with the Ce:LiCaAlF6 (CerLiCAF) active medium. The Ce:LiCAF belongs to the family of fluorides Ce3+ activated, which emit in the near UV with tunable emission. In particular it emits in the band 280-315 nm. The laser action was obtained by pumping CerLiCAF with frequency quadrupled Nd:YLF and Nd:YAG lasers. We developed a multi-kHz tunable laser with high quality beam, tunable in the range 280-315 nm and with an average power exceeding hundred of mW, pumping with a pulsed Nd:YLF laser. Due to the high quality of CerLiCAF crystal we grew, we were able to obtain the highest ever reported slope efficiency. We achieved also the highest ever reported energy of 26 mJ for a CerLiCAF tunable oscillator pumping with a single low repetition rate Nd:YAG IVth harmonic laser. The wavelength coverage is further extended in the range 225-230 nm by means of nonlinear frequency mixing of the Ce:LiCAF output with the residual emission of the fundamental wavelength of the Nd:YAG laser.
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KeyWords: Cerium; Crystal structure; Fluoride minerals; Frequencies; Nonlinear optics; Pumping (laser); Ultraviolet radiation, Ce:LiCAF; Tunable lasers; Ultraviolet lasers; Wavelength, Solid state lasersDOI: 10.1117/12.633723