Growth, thermal properties and laser operation of Nd:Ca3La2(BO3)4: A new disordered laser crystal

Zhongben Pan*, Hengjiang Cong, Haohai Yu, Li Tian, Hao Yuan, Huaqiang Cai, Huaijin Zhang, Hui Huang, Jiyang Wang, Qing Wang, Zhiyi Wei, Zhiguo Zhang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

33 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A novel disordered laser crystal Nd:Ca3La2(BO3)4 is characterized including its crystal growth, structure, thermal properties, inhomogeneously broadened spectra, and laser performance, which result that this crystal should be a promising gain material for the high-power ultrashort pulsed neodymium laser. The complete set of anisotropic thermal properties were systematically studied for the first time. It has been found that thermal contraction happens in the c direction and all the thermal conductivities increase with temperature, indicating a glass-like behavior. Polarized absorption and fluorescence spectra of Nd:Ca3La2(BO3)4 crystal were measured at 298.15 K and 77.3 K, respectively. The results show that both the absorption and the emission spectra of Nd3+ have been inhomogeneously broadened, and thus it is very promising to be used in laser systems to produce femtosecond pulses. CW laser operations at 1.06 μm along the three crystallographic directions has been demonstrated for the first time. A maximum power of 1.08 W with an optical conversion efficiency of 10.6% and slope efficiency of 12.4% was achieved in the acut sample.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6091-6100
Number of pages10
JournalOptics Express
Volume21
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Mar 2013
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Growth, thermal properties and laser operation of Nd:Ca3La2(BO3)4: A new disordered laser crystal'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this