Evaluation of Ho:KPb2Cl5 as a Diode-Pumpable Mid-IR Laser Material

Abstract

We have investigated several room-temperature spectroscopic properties of a recently grown crystal of holmium (Ho):KPb2Cl5, to evaluate its potential as a diode-pumped mid-IR laser material. We have measured its absorption and fluorescence spectra, and the fluorescence lifetimes of several excited states. These have enabled estimation of the stimulated emission cross section at the 3900-nm peak relevant to laser operation. This crystal shows substantial improvements in lifetime, linewidth, and cross section compared with earlier samples investigated by others, indicative of greatly reduced inhomogeneity. However, very weak absorption in the wavelength range of the most practical laser diodes makes this and any Ho3-doped material very difficult to use as a diode-pumped laser.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1017476

Entities

People

  • Larry D. Merkle
  • Stephen Huerster
  • Sudhir B. Trivedi

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption
  • Absorption Spectra
  • Detectors
  • Diffraction
  • Emission
  • Energy Levels
  • Fluorescence
  • Ground State
  • Laser Diodes
  • Laser Materials
  • Lasers
  • Materials
  • Military Research
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Spectra
  • Test And Evaluation

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers