Transparent Yb:YAG ceramic laser gain media, on the way to clean energy

Laser-driven inertial fusion energy (IFE) is an attractive energy resource that uses sea water as the main source of fuel (Deuterium), the abundance of which is virtually unlimited. The use of lasers for the production IFE has been studied widely in the last decades, and currently the first tests are under way in a facility in the USA, while a similar facility in Europe is under construction. Different approaches are currently being explored in Europe and elsewhere, and they all involve diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) sources. Laser gain media currently used in large laser facilities rely on uniformly doped solid state laser materials (glass, crystal or ceramic), but fail to assure the required energy extraction efficiency or undergo catastrophic failure due to poor heat management. An alternative to conventional gain media with superior properties is represented by polycrystalline Yb-doped YAG, which have the advantage of enabling the easy production of large-size gain media with a variable dopant distribution [1,2].