Performance and spectroscopic characterization of irradiated Nd:YAG

Todd S. Rose; Curtis L. Fincher; Renny Arthur Fields

doi:10.1117/12.50752

1 December 1991 Performance and spectroscopic characterization of irradiated Nd:YAG

Todd S. Rose, Curtis L. Fincher, Renny Arthur Fields

Proceedings Volume 1561, Inorganic Crystals for Optics, Electro-Optics, and Frequency Conversion; (1991) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.50752
Event: San Diego, '91, 1991, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The performance of longitudinally pumped Nd:YAG was evaluated before and after exposure to 60Co gamma radiation. For comparison, other Nd-doped materials, Cr:GSGG and YLF, were also included in this study. The cw unirradiated optical-to-optical slope efficiencies for Nd:YAG and Nd:YLF were 63% and degraded to 48% and 36%, respectively, after 600 kRads of irradiation. Nd:Cr:GSGG performed significantly worse, exhibiting a slope efficiency of 42%, but was not affected by irradiation (a result that is in agreement with previous reports). Electron paramagnetic resonance studies of the Nd:YAG samples indicated that there was no modification of the Nd3+ sites resulting from exposure to the radiation. It is concluded from the performance and spectroscopic analysis that the degradation in Nd:YAG is primarily due to an induced passive optical loss of approximately 0.02 cm-1. Furthermore, this effect was observed to saturate at exposure levels of 50 kRad. The relatively low induced loss indicates that Nd:YAG systems employing pulsed diode pumping in the longitudinal configuration, should be resistant to ambient space environment radiation damage. This point was experimentally verified with respect to the effect of gamma rays on performance.

Citation Download Citation

Todd S. Rose, Curtis L. Fincher, and Renny Arthur Fields "Performance and spectroscopic characterization of irradiated Nd:YAG", Proc. SPIE 1561, Inorganic Crystals for Optics, Electro-Optics, and Frequency Conversion, (1 December 1991); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.50752

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