Ceramic laser materials and the prospect for high power lasers

The paper discusses the possibilities for enhancement of laser emission parameters and power scaling of Nd-doped transparent ceramic materials. It is shown that by a correlated approach that accounts for the properties of the laser material, pumping conditions and details of laser design, the direct diode laser pumping of these lasers into the emitting level 4F3/2 enables additional power scaling in the range of 50–60% compared with the traditional 800 nm pumping in 4F5/2.