New solid laser: Ceramic laser. From ultra stable laser to ultra high output laser

An epoch-making solid laser is developed. It is ceramic laser, polycrystal, which is produced as same as glass and shows ultra high output. Ti3+:Al2O3 laser crystal and the CPA (chirped pulse amplification) technique realized new ultra high output lasers. Japan has developed various kinds of ceramic lasers, from 10-2 to 67 x 103 w average output, since 1995. These ceramic lasers were studied by gravitational radiation astronomy. The scattering coefficient of ceramic laser is smaller than single crystals. The new fast ignition method is proposed by Institute of Laser Engineering of Osaka University, Japan. Ultra-intense short pulse laser can inject the required energy to the high-density imploded core plasma within the core disassembling time. Ti3+:Al2O3 crystal for laser, ceramic YAG of large caliber for 100 kW, transparent laser ceramic from nano-crystals, crystal grain and boundary layer between grains, the scattering coefficient of single crystal and ceramic, and the derived release cross section of Yb:YAG ceramic are described. (S.Y.)