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High power 1640-nm Er:Y2O3 ceramic laser at room temperature

We report on high power operation of Er:Y2O3 ceramic laser at ~1.6 μm using low scattering loss, 0.25 at.% Er3+ doped ceramic sample fabricated in-house via co-precipitation process. The laser is in-band pumped by an Er, Yb fiber laser at 1535.6 nm and generates 10.2 W of continuous-wave (CW) output power at 1640.4 nm with a slope efficiency of 25% with respect to the absorbed pump power. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of ~1.6 μm Er:Y2O3 laser at room temperature. The prospects for further scaling in output power and lasing efficiency via low Er3+ doping and reduced energy-transfer upconversion are discussed.