Nonlinear refractive index of ceramic laser media and perspectives of their usage in a high-power laser-driver

At the recent years a technology of ceramic laser media on the base of crystals with a cubic symmetry has been developed. The perspective of the usage of ceramic materials in many different applications including high - power short pulse lasers stimulates the work on the systematic study of the properties of these new laser media. A nonlinear refractive index, n(2) was studied for several garnet and sesquioxide laser ceramics using Z-scan method. n(2) indices in the range of (2 - 6) x 10(-13) were measured for YAG, Y2O3, Lu2O3, and Sc2O3 ceramic samples. These data together with the other laser and spectroscopic parameters of several Nd3+ and Yb3+ doped crystals of a cubic symmetry were used to estimate the properties of laser ceramics for the application in a high-power pulsed-repetitive laser - driver for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) program. A high heat conductivity of ceramic materials is a profitable characteristic for this application as compared to glasses, which are used now for experiments in ICF at single shots regime. Compared to single crystals, ceramic elements provide laser designers with a variety of new design options for the projects of laser-drivers.