Widely tunable 1.94-µm Tm:BaY2F8 laser

A novel BaY2F8 crystal doped with thulium ions has been grown and extensively investigated. Owing to the large number of vibronic levels and to a favorable electron-phonon coupling, extremely wide absorption and emission bands around 1.9 µm have been observed. A room-temperature Tm:BaYF laser tunable over 210 nm interval, from 1849 nm to 2059 nm, has been demonstrated. OCIS codes: 160.5690 140.3580 ; 140.3600