抄録
Color centers-electrons trapped by the defects in insulating crystals-can be used for optically pumped lasers, which are broadly tunable over a wide range of ultraviolet, visible, and most importantly, infrared of 0.8-4 μm. Almost all the color center lasers are capable of cw and cw-mode-locked operation. In this paper, the recent progress in the stabilization of laser-active color centers, extension of the tuning range of color center lasers, typical performance of the lasers, and development of new femtosecond sources in the infrared are discussed.
