Laser investigation of Yb:YLF crystals fabricated with the micro-pulling-down technique

Fiber rods of 10% doped Yb:YLF were fabricated with the micro-pulling-down technique and characterized. The crystal a axis was oriented along the rod length, allowing polarized emission with the largest cross section available in the c direction. Laser experiments showed that these fiber samples perform similarly to crystals grown by the standard Czochralski method. Intrinsic slope efficiency of ~50% was measured in both cases, with small comparable intracavity losses, proving the good quality of the fiber material.