Abstract

Sesquioxides offer excellent thermal-mechanical properties. They have a high intrinsic thermal conductivity and good mechanical stability. Furthermore doping with rare earth ions in high concentration is possible because of the similar atomic radii. Especially ytterbium is an interesting active ion due to its very simple energy-level-scheme with only two multiplets. Therefore, no excited state absorbtion or upconversion processes should occur, making these materials well suited for use in lasers where high doping levels are necessary, especially for thin-disklasers. After demonstrating highly efficient laser operation of Yb:Lu₂O₃ and Yb:Sc₂O₃ thin-disk lasers [1,2], this work deals with the spectroscopic and scattering properties of Yb:Y₂O₃.

© 2009 IEEE