Lamp-pumped laser performance of Nd3+:Sr-5(PO4)(3)F operating both separately and simultaneously at 1.059 and 1.328 mu m

Lamp-pumped laser performance of Nd3+-doped strontium fluorapatite, Sr-5(PO4)(3)F or S-FAP, has been characterized and compared with that of Nd3+-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) at both 1.06 and 1.3 mu m. Nd3+:S-FAP was found to exhibit lower thresholds and lower slope efficiencies than Nd3+:YAG. The former is attributed to the higher emission cross section, and the latter to lower Nd3+ concentration in S-FAP. The 1.3 mu m lasing of Nd3+:S-FAP is of particular interest because of its high emission cross section (2.4X10(-19) cm(2)). Q-switched and dual-wavelength lasing operation were also demonstrated in Nd3+:S-FAP. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.