Influence of the fraction of absorbed pump power on the performance of Nd3+:YVO4 powder random lasers

Abstract

Understanding light absorption in random lasers and its distribution within the scattering gain media is a key issue to increase the lasers’ efficiency. Here we compare monodispersed and polydispersed powders of Nd3+:YVO4 and investigate the influence of the powder size distribution on scattering mean free path, absorption volume and, eventually, the lasers efficiency. The highest efficiency is achieved for polydispersed powders and we conjecture that these polydispersed powders, composed of pockets containing small grains trapped between large particles, present locally higher pump power densities than the monodispersed powders. We establish a figure of merit, based on measurable powder parameters, that agrees well with the obtained output power results of the monodispersed and polydispersed samples.