Detailed characterization of pump-induced refractive index changes observed in Nd:YVO_4, Nd:GdVO_4 and Nd:KGW

Abstract

The refractive index changes which can be induced in the Nd:YVO(4), Nd:GdVO(4) and Nd:KGW high gain laser crystals, when their Nd(3+) laser active ions are pumped from their ground- to excited- energy levels, have been carefully measured and characterized. By using two complementary optical techniques based on pump-probe interferometry and transient diffraction grating, the electronic and thermal contributions to the observed refractive index variations have been accurately determined and successfully exploited to derive various parameters such as polarizability changes, thermo-optic coefficients and thermal diffusivities.

Variation of luminescence properties of Na2O–CaO–SiO2: Nd3+ glass with crystallinity

“…The Nd 3+ ion has been used in a number of laser systems, due to the relatively wide availability of samples of this ion doped in a range of host materials [5]. So far, the Nd lasers have been operated successfully in a variety of host crystals (like Nd:YAG and Nd:YVO 4 ), which allow three-or fourlevel system laser action [6][7][8]. Some transparent ceramics, glasses and glass-ceramics are particularly suitable to be the hosts of laser dopants, which are now commercially available [9].…”

Transverse pseudo-nonlinear effects measured in solid-state laser materials using a sensitive time-resolved technique

“…Thereby, measuring the value of Δα p is a challenging problem on which much research has been dedicated (see for example Refs. [43][44][45]). …”

Rare-Earth-Ion-Doped Channel Waveguide Lasers on Silicon

“…In contrast, with REdoped dielectrics temperature stabilization can often be avoided altogether, because the heat generation can be significantly smaller. The refractive-index change accompanied with the excitation of rare-earth ions [26] is also significantly weaker compared to electron-hole pairs in III-V semiconductors. Consequently, linewidths of free-running single-longitudinal-mode distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers as narrow as 1.7 kHz have been demonstrated in rare-earth-iondoped materials [27,28], while the typical linewidth of commercially available III-V DFB lasers ranges from 1 to 10 MHz [29,30].…”