Ho:YLF crystal (Holmium-doped:YAG) is a very attractive laser material, because the lifetime of the upper laser level is much longer ( ~ 14 ms) than in Ho:YAG and the emission cross sections are higher. Additionally the thermal lens in Ho:YLF is much weaker, which helps to generate diffraction limited beams even under intense end-pumping.

Features:

High laser horizontal life

High emission cross section

Natural birefringent materials

DN /dT value is low → weak thermal lens

The absorption and emission interfaces have strong temperature dependence.