Solid-state lasers

Among laser sources, it is those based on solid materials that are currently seeing the most spectacular developments. The progress made is mainly due to three factors:

• the development of new materials resulting from the crystallogenesis of new crystalline matrices with different dopants;

• laser diode pumping, which, compared with incoherent lamp pumping, delivers high efficiencies (up to 20%), longer life and smaller footprint;

• the use of the non-linear properties of certain crystals to modify the fundamental wavelengths emitted so as to cover the entire spectrum from UV to mid-IR (200 nm to 12 µm).

The various techniques for shaping the time of laser emissions (modulation, triggering and mode coupling) applied to solid-state sources make it possible to obtain all desired operating modes: continuous or repetitive pulsed operation at high rates, with pulse durations in the femtosecond range (10 ^–15 s).

Readers are referred to the articles in this treatise:

• Laser physics ;

• Gas lasers .