Nanoceramic materials for power lasers operating in short- mid-infrared

A tremendous scientific effort has been devoted to finding materials suitable for high-power laser operations in the field of “eye-safe” infrared lasers for telecommunications, tracking, navigation systems, etc. The increasing power of lasers places high demands on the materials, which must exhibit high thermal stability and luminescence efficiency. A pyrochlore luminophores with a general structure (RExY1-x)2B2O7 represent a perspective class of materials for their outstanding optical properties. This contribution presents sol-gel preparation of (Ho0.03Y0.97)2Ti2O7 and (Ho0.03Y0.97)2Zr2O7 powders materials as potential sources for high-power lasers with a comparative study on structural properties focusing on the role of cation B in matrix and subsequential luminescence properties in the spectral range of 2 and 3 um. Prepared pyrochlores can be suitable as thin layers for active media for integrated waveguides. Obtained results revealed that compared with Ti-doped powders, the powders containing Zr showed prolonged decay time recorded at 2025 nm and 2950 nm by 6% and 10%, respectively. The luminescence decay time of (Ho0.03Y0.97)2Zr2O7 recorded at 2050 nm and 2950 nm was 4.87 ms and 0.3 ms, respectively. The obtained results can improve the efficiency of solid-state and fiber lasers operating at 2000 and 2950 nm.