Passively Q-switched lasers and short wave infrared (SWIR) electro-optical systems including such lasers. A passively Q-switched laser may include a gain medium (GM) having a stimulated emission cross section .sub.SE, a saturable absorber (SA) having an absorption cross section (.sub.a) which is less than three times the .sub.SE of the GM, and an optical resonator within which the GM and the SA are positioned, the optical resonator comprising a high reflectivity mirror and an output coupler, wherein at least one of the high reflectivity mirror and the output coupler comprises a curved mirror, directing light within the optical resonator such that an effective cross-section of a laser mode within the SA (A.sub.SA) is smaller than a cross-section of a laser mode within a Rayleigh length of the pump (A.sub.GM).

A visible laser or laser amplifier is provided with a ceramic gain medium having a uniaxial anisotropic scattering property such that scattering losses for a visible laser beam along one axis are lower than that along perpendicular axes, and that axis is used as the optical path. The ceramic gain medium includes at least a trivalent praseodymium dopant (Pr.sup.3+) within a host body based on CaF.sub.2, SrF.sub.2, BaF.sub.2, or a solid solution thereof. Co-dopants can include one or more other trivalent rare earth (RE) elements chosen from Lu.sup.3+, Y.sup.3+, Gd.sup.3+, and La.sup.3+. The ceramic gain medium, which is made from wet-chemistry precipitated powders, undergoes uniaxial compression, generally under high heat, as an essential step in its manufacture. In use, a pump source using a laser diode of gallium nitride-based semiconductor can be advantageously paired with the gain medium.

A laser-enhanced chemical vapor deposition transport system includes a resistive heated crucible and, projecting from the crucible at a first end, a plurality of spokes. The spokes are configured to deliver, substantially simultaneously, vaporized and/or sublimated media powder from the crucible to a plurality of deposition sites, deliver precursor gasses to the deposition sites and propagate beams emitted from one or more laser sources to the deposition sites.

The present invention provides a blue laser transmitter operating at the H-beta Fraunhofer line at 486.13 nm wavelength. The subject blue laser is based on pulsed lasing action in thulium doped into lutetium sesquioxide (Tm:Lu.sub.2O.sub.3). The laser wavelength is restricted by volume Bragg grating to the vicinity of 1944 nm wavelength. The laser is operated with a q-switch to generate high-energy pulses within the nanosecond regime. The output at the 1944 nm wavelength is then frequency quadrupled in a single pass through non-linear crystals to a wavelength near the center of the H-beta Fraunhofer line. The operation at the 1944 nm wavelength in Tm:Lu.sub.2O.sub.3 is very efficient because this wavelength is located on a shoulder of a substantially broad emission peak at 1945 nm. In addition, at the 1944 nm wavelength, Tm:Lu.sub.2O.sub.3 has only a modest saturation fluence of about 15 J/cm.sup.2, which allows for efficient energy extraction.