Spectroscopic characterization of various Yb3+ doped laser materials at cryogenic temperatures for the development of high energy class diode pumped solid state lasers

Precise values of absorption, emission and gain cross-sections of Yb:YAG, Yb:LuAG, Yb:CaF 2 and Yb:FP15-glass at cryogenic temperatures are presented. To obtain the emission cross-sections two theoretical approaches were used. The first is the McCumber or reciprocity method (RM) which is based on the absorption spectra. The second is the Fuchtbauer-Ladenburg (FL) method using fluorescence spectra. From the results of cross-sections one can expect significant impact on laser performance on these materials especially in the case of high energy class diode pumped solid state lasers.