Direct ink write fabrication of transparent ceramic gain media

Solid-state laser gain media based on the garnet structure with two spatially distinct but optically contiguous regions have been fabricated. Transparent gain media comprised of a central core of Y2.97Nd0.03Al5.00O12.00 (Nd:YAG) and an undoped cladding region of Y3Al5O12 (YAG) were fabricated by direct ink write and transparent ceramic processing. Direct ink write (DIW) was employed to form the green body, offering a general route to preparing functionally structured solid-state laser gain media. Fully-dense transparent optical ceramics in a “top hat” geometry with YAG/Nd:YAG have been fabricated by DIW methods with optical scatter at 1064 nm of <3%/cm.