Use of ultraviolet filters based on Ce3+ ions in neodymium-activated YAG and YAL lasers

Spectral and lasing methods were used to study the relative efficiency of filtering and utilization of the pump energy in the presence of ultraviolet Ce³⁺-based filters in various components of a laser illumination enclosure such as a flashlamp, the enclosure itself, and a cooling liquid. Experiments and calculations demonstrated that in the case of neodymium-activated yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) and yttrium aluminate (YAL) lasers the most effective was a monolithic enclosure made of KU-1 quartz and flashlamps enclosed in KU-1 or KLB-4 quartz bulbs, in combination with a cooling and filtering liquid in the form of an aqueous solution of CeCl₃ with the Ce³⁺ ion concentration of at least 0.1 mol/liter. In the case of neodymium-doped YAG neodymium lasers operating under free-running conditions the dynamic efficiency was 3 ± 0.2%, whereas in the case of YAL lasers it was 3.8 ± 0.1%.