Abstract

Due to the strong absorption in water, lasers in the wavelength range of 3 µm are attractive in fields like laser surgery or atmospheric detection. To achieve good beam quality and stable high-power laser operation, good mechanical, optical and thermal properties are essential for potential host materials. Rare-earth sesquioxide crystals are very suitable for high-power mid-infrared applications due to their high thermal conductivity and low phonon energies. In 2012 Er-doped lutetia (Lu₂O₃) was introduced as an efficient 3 µm laser material [1]. Due to its good thermo-mechanical properties, this materials allowed for the highest room-temperature laser power of any Er-doped crystalline host material at the time. Also other cubic sesquioxide host materials such as scandia (Sc₂O₃) and yttria (Y₂O₃) are very promising in this respect [2, 3].

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