Title

Accurate Determination Of Saturation Parameters For Cr4+-Doped Solid-State Saturable Absorbers

Abstract

We describe a systematic, rigorous procedure for the determination of the optical absorption saturation parameters for Cr4+:YAG and Cr4+:forsterite crystals at 1064 nm. A rate-equation approach was used to analyze the cw and pulsed transmission data of several crystals by accounting for the transverse as well as longitudinal variation of the beam intensity, saturation effects, and excited-state absorption. Use of an iterative procedure whereby the cw and pulsed data were simultaneously analyzed led to a considerable reduction in the error for the determination of cross sections. The average value of the absorption cross section σa and the normalized excited-state absorption cross section fp = σesa/σa were determined to be 6.13 × 10-19 cm2 and 0.45, respectively, for Cr4+:fersterite and 19.6 × 10-19 cm2 and 0.06, respectively, for Cr4+:YAG. Detailed comparison was also made with previous saturation measurements in the literature. Our results further show that lumped models based on the thin-length approximation should be used with caution in the determination of cross sections, especially when the pump beam is tightly focused inside the absorber. © 2006 Optical Society of America.

Publication Date

1-1-2006

Publication Title

Journal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics

Volume

23

Issue

2

Number of Pages

241-249

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSAB.23.000241

Socpus ID

33644920967 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/33644920967

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