Terminal-level relaxation in ND-doped laser materials

Technical Report · Sat Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/376947· OSTI ID:376947

Bibeau, C.; Payne, S. A.

During the energy extraction of a 1-{mu}m pulse in a Nd-doped laser material, the Nd-ion population is transferred from the metastable {sup 4}F{sub 3/2} level into the terminal {sup 4}I{sub 11/2} level. The terminal-level lifetime, {tau}{sub 11/2}, is defined in this case as the time it takes the Nd-ion population to decay from the {sup 4}I{sub 11/2} level into the {sup 4}I{sub 9/2} ground state. Several experimental and theoretical approaches over the last three decades have been made to measure the terminal-level lifetime. However, an agreement in the results among the different approaches for a large sampling of laser materials has never been demonstrated. This article presents three independent methods (pump-probe, emission, and energy extraction) for measuring the terminal-level lifetime in Nd:phosphate glass LG-750. The authors find remarkable agreement among the data and determine the {tau}{sub 11/2} lifetime to be 253{+-}50 ps. They extend their studies to show that the results of the pump-probe and emission methods agree to within a factor of two for additional Nd-doped glases and crystals investigated, thus offering validation for the emission method, which is a simpler, indirect approach.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 376947
• Report Number(s): UCRL-LR--105820-95; ON: DE96013181
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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