Yb:GdScO3 crystal for efficient ultrashort pulse lasers

We present, to the best of our knowledge, the first demonstration of thermal, optical, and laser properties of Y b : G d S c O 3 for potentially efficient ultrashort pulse lasers. The stimulated emission cross section at 1025 nm (E//c) is 0.46 × 10 − 20 c m 2 with the emission band width of 85 nm, even broader than the well-known Y b : C a G d A l O 4 . It has quite a high thermal conductivity of 5.54 W / ( m ⋅ K ) at 50°C, comparable with Yb:YAG. In the continuous-wave regime, the maximum output power of 13.45 W at 1063.9 nm was generated with the optical-to-optical efficiency of 63.3%. These results suggest that the Y b : G d S c O 3 crystal is a promising candidate for ultrashort pulse lasers.