铒掺杂增益介质实现2.7—3μm波段激光输出的研究进展

Research progress of Erbium-doped gain medium for laser operation in 2.73μm

2.7—3μm波段掺Er^(3+)激光增益介质凭借其独特的优点在生物医学、环境探测及非线性光学等领域有着重要的应用。但由于Er^(3+)的^(4)I_(13/2)下能级寿命长于上能级^(4)I_(11/2),导致激光阈值高、热效应严重等问题,众多研究者采取退激活、热键合、单晶光纤(single crystal fiber, SCF)、级联激光及低声子能量等方式致力于探索低阈值、高光束质量的增益介质。近10年来,相较于同波段的其他介质,掺Er^(3+)激光增益介质发展成熟,相应的激光性能日渐提升,有望在其应用领域得到进一步的发展。本文综述了以YAG(Y_(3)Al_(5)O_(12))、YSGG (Y_(3)Sc_(2)Ga_(3)O_(12))、YAP(YAlO_(3))等为主的Er^(3+)掺杂激光晶体、以Y_(2)O_(3)、Lu_(2)O_(3)为主的Er^(3+)掺杂透明陶瓷和以ZBLAN (ZrF_(4)-BaF_(2)-LaF_(3)-AlF_(3)-NaF)为主的Er^(3+)掺杂氟锆玻璃的研究进展情况,其中重点介绍了相关结果与实验方案并对未来的发展趋势进行了展望。

The Er^(3+)doped laser gain medium around 2.7-3μm with unique advantages has important applications in the fields of biomedicine,environmental detection and nonlinear optics,etc.However,the lower-level lifetime^(4)I_(13/2) is longer than that of upper-level lifetime^(4)I_(11/2),resulting in a high laser threshold,severe thermal effect and other problems.Some researchers devote to exploring laser gain media with low threshold and high beam quality by doping deactivate ions,thermal bonding,single crystal fiber(SCF),cascade laser,low photon energy and so on.Compared with other gain mediums in the same waveband,the Er3+doped laser gain mediums have been rapidly developed and laser performance has also been improved obviously,which can be expected to further develop in its application field.In this paper,we summarize the research progress of the Er^(3+)-doped laser crystal,such as YAG(Y_(3)Al_(5)O_(12)),YSGG(Y_(3)Sc_(2)Ga_(3)O_(12))and YAP(YAlO_(3)),the Er^(3+)-doped ceramics such as Y_(2)O_(3),Lu_(2)O_(3),the Er^(3+)-doped zirconium fluoride glass such as ZABLAN(ZrF_(4)-BaF_(2)-LaF_(3)-AIF_(3)-NaF),and the relevant results and experimental protocol are highlighted.At the same time,we also look forward to the future development direction.