Saturable absorber Q-switches for tunable near-IR solid-state lasers

Summary form only given. An organically-modified silicate (ORMO-SIL) doped with 1,1',3,3,3',3'-hexamethylindotricarbocyanine iodide (HITCI) was shown to function as a saturable absorber Q-switch for a number of near-IR solid-state lasers. The broad absorption (peak near 750 nm) indicates the potential application of this material as a saturable absorber Q-switch for the Cr:LiCAF laser (tunable from 725 to 880 nm), the alexandrite laser (tunable from 700 to 818 nm), and the ruby laser (at 694 nm).