Fabrication, spectroscopic characterization and laser test of Yb:Sc2O3 transparent ceramics

We report the fabrication procedure, the spectroscopic characterization and the laser performance of a 5 at.% Yb doped Sc2O3 ceramic sample fabricated by co-precipitation and vacuum sintering method. The characteristics of the precursor as well as the calcined powders are analyzed at each step by means of Brunauer- Emmett-Teller (BET), XRD, and SEM. Concerning the laser performance, quasi-CW laser oscillation is obtained at 1046.6 nm with a maximum output power of 2.44 W while the slope efficiency was 34.9%. Finally, the tunability measurement of this ceramic has revealed a very broad tuning range, i.e. 56 nm