Line competition in an intracavity diode-pumped Yb:KYW laser operating at 981 nm

This paper proposes an analysis of a Yb:KYW laser emitting at 981 nm intracavity pumped by a Nd : YVO(4) laser operating at 914 nm. It gives some guidelines to optimize the laser performance. An output power of 1 W has been obtained at 981 nm for a pump power of 23 W at 808 nm. It presents a simple and original model to deal with the line competition between 981 nm and the other lines at 1000 and 1023 nm and explains how a temperature increase can promote the 981 nm laser emission. This approach could be useful for other lasers that are subject to line competition. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America