Resonantly diode laser pumped 1.6-μm-erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet solid-state laser

We report direct resonant diode pumping of a 1.6-μm-Er3+-doped bulk solid-state laser. Using a 1470-nm-single-mode diode laser module to pump the Er:YAG rod, an absorbed photon conversion efficiency of 26% has been obtained in this initial experiment. Analysis of the diode-pumped solid-state laser input–output characteristics suggests that the obtained slope efficiency can be doubled through the reduction of intracavity losses and pumping efficiency improvement.