Highly efficient lasing and thermal properties of Tm:YO and Tm:(Y,Sc)O ceramics.

We report on thermal, spectroscopic, and laser properties of transparent 5 at.% Tm-doped yttria and "mixed" yttria-scandia ceramics fabricated by vacuum sintering at 1750°C using nanoparticles produced by laser ablation. The solid-solution (TmYSc)O ceramic features a broadband emission extending up to 2.