Spectroscopic properties at 1.351 μm of Nd3+-doped KY(WO4)2 and KGd(WO4)2 single crystals for Raman conversion

Abstract Spectroscopic properties around 1.35 μm are investigated for Nd 3+ -doped KY(WO 4 ) 2 and KGd(WO 4 ) 2 bi-axial single crystals. Unlike previously published works, all measurements have been done along optical axes. Our aim is to evaluate the feasibility of an eye-safe laser emission into the range 1.51–1.57 μm. A complete Judd–Ofelt analysis and excited state absorption (ESA) have been undertaken so that we can give laser gains at 1.35 μm. Then we compare several schemes of Raman laser actions.