Domestically Produced Ceramic YAG Laser Gain Material for High Power SSLs

摘要

Optical quality ceramic Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (YAG, Y_3Al_5O_(12)) materials for high power solid state lasers are being developed at Raytheon. The remaining challenge for ceramic gain materials is elimination of residual absorption and scattering centers. At Raytheon, significant progress has been achieved in the optical quality improvement, scale-up, and demonstration of laser quality Yb, Nd, and Er doped ceramic YAG materials. This communication presents Raytheon's current development status in ceramic YAG fabrication and doped ceramic YAG material characteristics.