Efficient room temperature cw laser oscillation of crystalline Yb:Sc/sub 2/O/sub 3/ at 1041.6 and 1094.6 nm

Extremely high pump (62.2%) and slope (72.7%) efficiencies are obtained with a cw Yb:Sc/sub 2/O/sub 3/ crystal laser operating at 1041.6 and 1094.6 nm and delivering maximum powers of 1.55 and 1.35 W, respectively, without special cooling.