Optical properties of epitaxial YAG: Yb films

This work deals with the investigation of the optical properties of epitaxial YAG:Yb films and their suitability as gain media for thin disk lasers. Epitaxial films of YAG:Yb were grown by the liquid phase epitaxy method in air on the (111)-oriented YAG substrates. The thickness of the grown layers was from 30 to 260 mum. The melt composition was varied to obtain the desired doping level from 10 to 15% and to optimize the optical properties. The best epitaxial films were colourless and had an Yb3+ luminescence lifetime of more than 950 mus, which is very close to the intrinsic lifetime of the Yb ions in the bulk YAG single crystals. These films were tested in a thin disk laser setup with 24 absorption passes of the 940 nm pumping beam. The maximum output power at 1.03 mum wavelength in CW operation reached more than 60 W and the optical efficiency was close to 30%.