Preparation and spectroscopic properties of Tm3+:(Y0.9La0.1)2O3 transparent ceramics

Tm3+:(Y0.9La0.1)2O3 transparent ceramics were fabricated by commercial nanopowders and sintered at low temperature of 1600–1700 °C under H2 atmosphere. The spectrum properties of Tm3+:(Y0.9La0.1)2O3 transparent ceramics were investigated at room temperature. The absorption cross section at 808 nm is calculated to be 3.4 × 10−21 cm2 and the emission cross section at 1932 nm wavelength is 9.76 × 10−21 cm2. The strong gain at ∼2 μm indicates that the Tm3+:(Y0.9La0.1)2O3 transparent ceramics is a promising laser host for ∼2 μm laser.

• The ceramics were fabricated by solid-state reaction and sintered in H2 atmosphere.
• The emission bandwidth is larger than that of single crystals.
• The larger bandwidth is favorable for achieving ultra-short mode-locked pulse laser.