Temperature Dependent Measurement of Absorption and Emission Cross Sections for Various Yb3+ Doped Laser Materials

For laser performance simulations, optical properties of applied active materials have to be exactly known. Here we report on temperature dependent emission and absorption cross section measurements for Yb:YAG, Yb:CaF2 and Yb:FP15-glass. The temperature of the samples was aligned in steps of 20 K between 100 K and room temperature with a liquid nitrogen driven cryostat. Absorption spectra were obtained with a fiber coupled white light source and fluorescence spectra by excitation with a fiber coupled 10W laser diode at 970 nm. All spectral measurements were performed with a scanning spectrum analyzer, providing a spectral resolution down to 0.05 nm. By applying the McCumber relation in combination with the Fuchtbauer-Ladenburg method, we were able to obtain a valid emission cross section over the whole range of interest from the measured data.