Novel Electro-Optic Ceramic Materials for Microchip and High Power Lasers
- PDF / 186,272 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
- 72 Downloads / 196 Views
A5.57.1
Novel Electro-Optic Ceramic Materials for Microchip and High Power Lasers Xuesheng Chen Department of Physics & Astronomy, Wheaton College, Norton, MA 02766, USA Kewen Li, Kevin Zou, Run Zhang, and Hua Jiang Boston Applied Technologies, Inc., 150H New Boston Street, Woburn, MA 01801, USA Gonul Ozen and B. Di Bartolo Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02167, USA ABSTRACT This paper reports optical studies on transparent electro-optic ceramics, 2%Er:PLZT and 0.5%Er-2.5%Yb:PLZT. Strong photoluminescence was observed in these polycrystalline ceramics in the 1550 nm region when pumped by diode lasers either at ~970nm or ~800nm. Efficient green upconversion luminescence was also observed. Co-doping Yb3+ did enhance the Er3+ emission in the 1550nm region when pumped with ~970 nm diode laser. This work provides important information for developing microchip and high-power ceramic lasers using Er-doped PLZT ceramics.
INTRODUCTION Ceramic laser materials have recently received a lot of attention because they are great candidates for efficient microchip or high-power lasers. In contrast to popular single-crystal laser materials, such as Nd:YAG, ceramic laser materials are easy to fabricate into large sizes at potentially very low cost and readily to dope with high rare-earth ion concentrations. Mass production of ceramic laser materials is possible because no sophisticated technique and expensive equipment is needed, compared with what is involved in single-crystal growth and subsequent fabrication. The first ceramic Nd:YAG laser output was obtained in 1995.[1] Recently, ceramic Nd:YAG lasers have achieved output power on the order of kilowatts.[2] Yb:Y2O3 ceramic lasers have also been reported.[3] Rare earth ion doped ceramics have shown a promising future in applications for microchip and high-power lasers with high efficiency.[4] To make a ceramic laser possible, the ceramic material has to be made highly transparent to minimize pump energy loss. Recently, a new, highly transparent, electro-optic ceramic material, Er3+-doped Pb1-xLaxZryTi1-yO3 (Er:PLZT), has been fabricated by Boston Applied Technologies, Inc. The host material (PLZT with a special composition) has an exceptionally high electro-optic (EO) effect, and it has been successfully used for a variety of optical devices in telecommunications. This EO-based laser material has unique features in phase and mode selfmodulation that may lead to revolutionary laser systems of higher efficiency, more compactness, and integrated functions. In this paper, we report our optical and photoluminescence studies on these newly developed Er-doped PLZT ceramic materials. Our work provides crucial information for its promising application in new optical devices including microchip and high-power ceramic lasers.
A5.57.2
MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PLZT is a transparent ceramic based on the perovskite structure of ABO3[5] formulated as (Pb, La)(Zr, Ti)O3, where Pb2+ and La3+ ions occupy A sites while Zr4+ and Ti4+ are at B sites. From our research, it
Data Loading...
