Open-aperture Z-scan study for absorption saturation: accurate measurement of saturation intensity in YLF:Yb for optical refrigeration

Abstract

Knowledge of saturation intensity of gain or absorption plays a fundamental role in a variety of applications ranging from lasers to many nonlinear optical processes. Here, we present an analytical expression for open-aperture Z-scan transmission for accurately measuring the saturation intensity in the low absorbance samples but at arbitrary pump intensities. We exploit this formalism to investigate the absorption saturation of L i Y F 4 : Y b 3 + (YLF:Yb) in the anti-Stokes excitation region for optical refrigeration at high pump intensities. An absorption saturation intensity of 14.5 ± 1 k W / c m 2 was measured in YLF:Yb at 1020 nm ( E | | c ) at room temperature.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Mar 11, 2021
Source ID
10.1364/ol.419551

Entities

People

  • Alexander R Albrecht
  • Azzurra Volpi
  • Jackson Kock
  • Mansoor Sheik‐Bahae
  • Markus P Hehlen
  • Richard I. Epstein

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • ThermoDynamic Films LLC
  • University of New Mexico

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Engineering
  • Physics

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Coastal Oceanography
  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers