Spectroscopic properties and laser performance of Tm:YAG ceramics

Tm:YAG laser ceramics were fabricated by solid-state reaction and simple vacuum sintering, and their spectroscopic characteristics were investigated in detail. High fluorescence quantum efficiency, long fluorescence lifetime and low up-conversion losses were demonstrated, which indicated that such ceramics could be used as laser gain media. Laser operation at 2 μm via 3F4→3H6 transition was realized. The maximum output power of 593 mW at 2007 nm was acquired with an optical conversion efficiency of 15.6%.