Patent ID: 7720121

Claim:
A method of producing with high efficiency laser output emission at an output wavelength in response to delivery to a lasing medium optical pumping energy at a pump wavelength, comprising: configuring a lasing medium including a host crystal to produce emission of lasing output energy in response to delivery of optical pumping energy, the host crystal including at least one of vanadate, yttrium, gadolinium, and lutetium crystals and characterized by polygonal crystal structure with orthogonal crystal lattice axes and doped with laser active ions in a neodymium ion doping concentration from about 0.5% at. to about 3.0% at.; and delivering to the lasing medium optical pumping energy at a pump wavelength value of between 910 nm and 920 nm to establish a low quantum defect corresponding to a difference between the optical pumping energy and the lasing output energy at an output wavelength, the pump wavelength value causing the host crystal to exhibit generally symmetric energy absorption along the orthogonal crystal lattice axes of, and a consequent reduction in thermal load in, the polygonal crystal structure.