Abstract

Thanks to the reduced quantum defect with respect to Nd doped materials, Yb doped crystals are widely employed as laser material in high-power diode-pumped lasers. YAG crystalline matrix, thanks to its remarkable thermo-mechanical properties is particularly suitable for high-power management. Moreover, the relatively broad fluorescence bandwidth of Yb:YAG allows ultrashort pulse generation, even at very high average power [1]. Ceramic Yb:YAG has also been investigated in recent years since it promises cheaper devices and larger volume fabrication, while maintaining the attractive properties of the single crystal [2]. In this work, we investigated the growth, spectroscopy and laser operation of two Yb:YAG ceramic samples. We demonstrated a combination of average power (4.4 W), pulse duration (~7 ns), peak power (~12 kW) and repetition rate (~50 kHz) in Passive Q-switching (PQS) operation that set the state of the art for medium power Yb-doped solid-state lasers and can be very attractive for many material processing applications.

© 2013 IEEE