Ytterbium Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Yb:YAG) is more suitable for diode-pumping than the traditional Nd-doped laser crystal. Features of Yb:YAG produced by WISOPTIC:
• High slope efficiency
• Broad absorption bands (about 8 nm @ 940 nm)
• No excited-state absorption or up-conversion
• Easily pumped by reliable InGaAs diodes at 940 nm (or 970 nm)
• Low fractional heating (less than 11%)
• High thermal conductivity
• Good mechanical strength
• High internal optical quality

Ytterbium Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Yb:YAG) is more suitable for diode-pumping than the traditional Nd-doped laser crystal. Compared with the commonly used Nd:YAG, Yb:YAG has the following advantages: three to four times lower thermal loading per unit pump power and much larger absorption bandwidth to reduce thermal management requirements for diode lasers, longer upper-laser level lifetime. Yb:YAG lasing at 1030 nm is a good substitute for Nd: YAG lasing at 1064 nm and its SHG at 515 nm may replace the bulky Ar-ion laser which emits at 514 nm.