Abstract

Erbium laser glasses have been of great interest because of their capability for emitting radiation at the eye safe wavelength of 1.54 μm. Current commercial glasses are limited to relatively low repetition rates and low-average-output-power operation.¹ A novel Er³⁺-doped phosphate laser glass exhibiting a high thermal-loading capability in combination with superior laser performance has been developed, and the optimization of Cr³⁺ and Yb³⁺ sensitizers has been described.² Further enhancement of the thermal-loading capability of this new glass has been achieved by a chemical strengthening.³ This paper focuses on optimization of the Er³⁺-doping concentration in this novel glass. The mechanisms of the round-trip resonator losses, the simultaneous dual-wavelength operation, and the high-repetition-rate and high-average-power operation are also presented.

© 1995 Optical Society of America