Nd:sapphire channel waveguide laser

We present continuous wave laser activity in neodymium-doped sapphire ridge waveguides. The ridges were prepared using diamond blade dicing of thin Nd3+:sapphire films grown on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Lasing was realized at wavelengths of 1092 nm and 1097 nm for ridge waveguide orientations addressing the σ- and π-polarization, respectively. A maximum slope efficiency with respect to incident pump power of 12% was achieved in σ-polarization with a ridge cross section of 40.8 × 2.6 µm2 and a ridge length of 8 mm. With an available incident pump power of 2.8 W from a Ti:sapphire laser, a maximum output power of 322 mW was realized.