Ceramic Laser Produces 72 W

A team at the University of Electro-communications and Konoshima Chemical Co. Ltd. in Tokyo and at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow has reported 1064-nm continuous-wave (CW) output from a polycrystalline Nd:YAG ceramic laser. Ceramic lasers offer benefits in design and fabrication because the production of the laser rods does not require iridium crucibles and a lengthy growth process.

The team pumped the ceramic rod with 808-nm light from a bank of 32 laser diodes. Laser oscillation occurred at a pump power of 116 W, and 72-W multimode CW output at 290 W, for an optical-to-optical efficiency of 25 percent.

A report of the experiment appeared in the June 4 issue of Applied Physics Letters.