Abstract

A newly explored color center in NaF, when pumped with 1 W of power at 0.87 μm, has yielded efficient cw laser action tunable over the 0.99–1.22-μm range; power output at band center was 400 mW. The combined ground- and first-excited-state absorption spectrum of this center is closely analogous to that of the ordinary F₂⁺ center in the same host. However, unlike the (short-lived) ordinary F₂⁺ center, the new center has a measured shelf life at room temperature of several months.

© 1980 Optical Society of America

Laser-active, defect-stabilized F₂⁺ center in NAF:OH⁻ and dynamics of defect-stabilized center formation

L. F. Mollenauer
Opt. Lett. 6(7) 342-344 (1981)

Broadly tunable cw lasers using F₂⁺ centers for the 1.26–1.48 and 0.82–1.07 μm bands

L. F. Mollenauer, D. M. Bloom, and A. M. DelGaudio
Opt. Lett. 3(2) 48-50 (1978)

Dyelike lasers for the 0.9–2-μm region using F₂⁺ centers in alkali halides

L. F. Mollenauer
Opt. Lett. 1(5) 164-165 (1977)

Tunable, continuous-wave laser action using (F₂⁺)A centers in lithium-doped KCl

Irwin Schneider and Charles L. Marquardt
Opt. Lett. 5(6) 214-215 (1980)

Stable color-center laser in K-doped NaCl tunable from 1.42 to 1.76 μm

Joseph F. Pinto, Lawrence W. Stratton, and Clifford R. Pollock
Opt. Lett. 10(8) 384-386 (1985)