Abstract
We report on the development of novel saturable absorbers for erbium lasers based on transparent glass-ceramics (GCs) containing a mixture of cobalt-doped -willemite, , and zinc oxide, , nanosized (10–14 nm) crystals. The structure of the parent glass and GCs is studied by x-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Variations of absorption spectra with heat-treatment reveal that ions from the parent glass enter the crystals of ZnO and -willemite. GCs are characterized by a broad absorption band due to the transition of ions in tetrahedral sites spanning up to , relatively low saturation fluence, at 1.54 μm, short recovery time, , and high laser damage threshold, . By using the developed GCs in a diode-side-pumped Er, Yb:glass laser, 0.77 mJ/45 ns pulses are generated.
© 2016 Optical Society of America
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