Diode pumped Tm:YAP lasers of different doping concentrations

Abstract

The experimental investigation on the Tm:YAP lasers with different thulium doped concentrations and specialized crystal dimensions are concluded. The Tm:YAP samples were pumped by a laser diode array (LDA), with the centre wavelength of 790 nm, and adopted in the end-pumped configuration. A maximum 5 W CW output of 5% Tm:YAP laser was reported. Especially, we got a maximum 20 mW output power of 15% Tm:YAP with incident 18.93 W pump power, which was the first demonstration of laser emission for Tm:YAP crystals with the doping concentration higher than 5 at.%. The influences of doping concentration and crystal dimension, the characteristics of absorption and emission spectrum and polarization were discussed. The optimization of laser structure was also analyzed.