Efficient laser action of Yb:LSO and Yb:YSO oxyorthosilicates crystals under high-power diode-pumping

We report here on the efficient laser action of a new Yb-doped crystal Yb3+: Lu2SiO5 (Yb: LSO) under high power diode-pumping (15 W). Its performances were compared to another Yb-doped crystal belonging to the oxyorthosilicate family: the Yb: YSO. For both crystals, more than 7 W of laser radiation around 1 mum was obtained under 14.4 W of incident pump power at 978 nm, leading to high optical conversions of more than 50%. Finally, both crystals demonstrate little sensitivity to pump wavelength drift and exhibit broad tunability at a multiwatt level (more than 4 W over 50 nm and 60 nm, respectively for Yb: LSO and Yb: YSO).