Continuous wave and mode-locked Yb3+:Y2O3 ceramic thin disk laser

CW and mode-locked laser operation based on an Yb3+:Y2O3 ceramic thin disk is reported. In CW laser operation, an output power of 70 W with an optical-to-optical efficiency of 57.4% was achieved. A higher slope efficiency of 70% was also obtained with a 50-W pump laser diode with more suitable emission characteristics. In mode-locked laser operation, pulses as short as 547 fs with an average power of 7.4 W were obtained. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a high power CW and mode-locked laser operation based on Yb3+:Y2O3 ceramic thin disks.