Optical spectroscopy and diode-pumped laser characteristics of codoped Tm-Ho : LF and Tm-Ho : BaYF: a comparative analysis

Single crystals of monoclinic Bay(2)F(8) and tetragonal LiYF4 codoped with the same Tm3+ and Ho3+ concentrations were successfully grown by the Czochralski method. Here we present a comparative analysis of the two hosts including spectroscopic characterization and cw diode-pumped laser experiments in the 2-mum wavelength region at room temperature. The main differences between the two hosts are a lower slope efficiency associated with a much wider tuning range (2005-2094 nm) of BaY2F8 with respect to LiYF4.