On refractory oxide crystals for continuous-wave tunable lasers

Tunable lasers based on ionic crystal vacancies possess broadly tunable operation capabilities useful in research and technology. It is presently noted that trapped hole centers can be a detriment to CW tunable laser action in the case of irradiated oxide crystals operating in or near the visible region. It is suggested that thermochemically reduced oxide crystals may be more promising, since they can survive radiation fields as potent as the Van Allen belt without appreciable optical degradation.