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Rare-earth-doped LaF3 waveguide laser devices

Rare-earth-doped LaF3 waveguide laser devices
Rare-earth-doped LaF3 waveguide laser devices
Solid-state laser devices offer a promising route to the production of compact and reliable mid IR sources. Various solid-state laser technologies have been demonstrated in the mid-IR region, of which the most compact and efficient are ZBLAN fibre and semiconductor-based lasers. Here we propose that waveguide laser technology based on MBE-grown rare-earth (RE)-doped lanthanum fluoride layers can offer significant advantages.
Lanthanum fluoride has a number of properties that make it an attractive host material for rare-earth lasing dopants. It has a low phonon energy (~ 380cm-1) and a large transparency window (0.2µm - 11µm), leading to the possibility of accessing RE transitions at wavelengths longer than 3.9µm to which ZBLAN fibres are currently limited.
Similarly to fibre lasers, the waveguide geometry should lead to low-threshold, efficient, integrated devices that operate continuously at room-temperature. This latter property could be an advantage compared to semiconductor-based sources, whose performance, if continually improving, still struggles to achieve CW room temperature operation beyond 3µm.
Recently we have demonstrated the first near-IR laser action in a neodymium-doped lanthanum fluoride planar waveguide [1] and a slab-loaded channel waveguide [2] based on MBE grown thin films. Other types of structures are also currently under investigation.
We will present in this paper our latest developments in order to extend laser operation of LaF3 waveguide lasers into the mid-infrared region.
Chardon, A.
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Daran, E.
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Bhutta, T.
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Shepherd, D.P.
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Munoz-Yague, A.
6c8566c4-57b9-4b15-a428-9570ce2bdf89
Chardon, A.
6e99d332-9c21-4281-b36c-80fdfe44f452
Daran, E.
85e99bdf-124c-4950-9660-5ad7d555c799
Bhutta, T.
6e32b59c-cd48-4454-9378-a7a8ab10d28e
Shepherd, D.P.
9fdd51c4-39d6-41b3-9021-4c033c2f4ead
Munoz-Yague, A.
6c8566c4-57b9-4b15-a428-9570ce2bdf89

Chardon, A., Daran, E., Bhutta, T., Shepherd, D.P. and Munoz-Yague, A. (2001) Rare-earth-doped LaF3 waveguide laser devices. MIOMD 2001: Mid-Infrared Optoelectronics – Materials and Devices, Montpellier, France. 02 - 03 Apr 2001.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

Solid-state laser devices offer a promising route to the production of compact and reliable mid IR sources. Various solid-state laser technologies have been demonstrated in the mid-IR region, of which the most compact and efficient are ZBLAN fibre and semiconductor-based lasers. Here we propose that waveguide laser technology based on MBE-grown rare-earth (RE)-doped lanthanum fluoride layers can offer significant advantages.
Lanthanum fluoride has a number of properties that make it an attractive host material for rare-earth lasing dopants. It has a low phonon energy (~ 380cm-1) and a large transparency window (0.2µm - 11µm), leading to the possibility of accessing RE transitions at wavelengths longer than 3.9µm to which ZBLAN fibres are currently limited.
Similarly to fibre lasers, the waveguide geometry should lead to low-threshold, efficient, integrated devices that operate continuously at room-temperature. This latter property could be an advantage compared to semiconductor-based sources, whose performance, if continually improving, still struggles to achieve CW room temperature operation beyond 3µm.
Recently we have demonstrated the first near-IR laser action in a neodymium-doped lanthanum fluoride planar waveguide [1] and a slab-loaded channel waveguide [2] based on MBE grown thin films. Other types of structures are also currently under investigation.
We will present in this paper our latest developments in order to extend laser operation of LaF3 waveguide lasers into the mid-infrared region.

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More information

Published date: 2001
Additional Information: Y-3
Venue - Dates: MIOMD 2001: Mid-Infrared Optoelectronics – Materials and Devices, Montpellier, France, 2001-04-02 - 2001-04-03

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 17208
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/17208
PURE UUID: ff80779f-72d4-4ac0-8210-6302cc7117ff
ORCID for D.P. Shepherd: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4561-8184

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 Sep 2005
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:39

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Contributors

Author: A. Chardon
Author: E. Daran
Author: T. Bhutta
Author: D.P. Shepherd ORCID iD
Author: A. Munoz-Yague

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