ORANGE, RED AND DEEP-RED FLASHLAMP-PUMPED PR3+-LIYF4 LASER WITH IMPROVED OUTPUT ENERGY AND EFFICIENCY

Three laser transitions (607.2 nm, 639.5 nm, 720.9 nm) in a flashlamp-pumped Pr3+: LiYF4 laser at room temperature are investigated. Cerium ions (Ce3+) doped into the fused-quartz envelope of the flashlamp efficiently transfer strong UV radiation from pumping light into the absorption region of Pr3+ ions (lambda = 420-480 nm), so that the slope efficiency of all three laser emissions could be increased by almost 100% compared to excitation with a pure quartz flashlamp. At a pump energy of 30 J the output energy of these three laser emissions reached 4.7 mJ, 87 mJ and 30 mJ.