Solid-State Laser Research
Prof. Dr. Günter Huber
The solid-state laser group of the Institute of Laser Physics has explored new laser materials and coherent light sorces in many fundamental and applied research projects funded by research foundations and governmental organizations. Application oriented projects have been mostly carried out in close collaboration with industrial partners. The combination of materials science and laser physics in one research group has been an important aspect regarding the efficient exploration and development of new solid-state lasers. Detailed research results can be found here. An overview of the main research activities is given below:
Crystal growth
- Czochralski growth of fluorides and oxides
- Growth of high melting oxides using the Heat-Exchange Method (HEM),
in partucular the growth of rare earth doped sesquioxides
- Microstructering of bulk crystals by ultrashort laser pulses
- Growth of thin films using Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD)
Spectroscopic characterization of laser crystals
- Absorption and emission spectroscopy
- Fluorescence dynamics, lifetimes of excited states
- Excited state absorption (ESA)
- Radiative and non-radiative transitions
- Determination of cross sections
- Energy transfer between doping ions
Lasers in the near-infrared spectral region
- Efficient diode pumped Nd-, Yb, Tm-, Ho, and Er- lasers
- Yb-doped thin-disk lasers with high output power and ultrashort pulses
- Laser losses at high doping concentrations and inversion densities
- Tunable lasers on the basis of transition metall ions
Ti3+, Cr2+, Cr3+, and Cr4+
Lasers in the visible spectral region
- Non-linear conversion of coherent near-infrared radiation
- Up-conversion lasers
- Solid-state lasers with direct emission in the visible region based on
Pr, Tb, Dy- doped materials
- Frequency doubling of Pr-lasers into the UV spectral region
Crystalline waveguide lasers
- Low loss waveguide structures in bulk crystals inscribed by ultrashort
laser pulses
- Compact efficient crystalline Nd- and Yb- doped waveguide lasers
- Lasers in complex structures, e.g. in curved YAG waveguides
- Rare earth doped sapphire laser in planar PLD-grown waveguide layers