Crystal growth and spectroscopic characterization of Yb-doped and Yb, Na-codoped CaF2 laser crystals by TGT

High-quality 2at%-doped Yb:CaF2 and Yb,Na:CaF2 single crystals with diameter of 76mm were grown by the temperature gradient technique. For the first time, distribution coefficients (KO) of Yb in the two crystals were determined to be 1.07 and 0.91, respectively, by measuring the Yb concentrations at the growth starting position in the as-grown boules. Absorption and emission spectra of the two different crystals were measured at room temperature. Experimental results show that Na+ ions codoping with Yb3+ as charge compensators make Yb3+ ions in CaF2 lattice to be a quasi-single-center system, and greatly suppress the deoxidization of Yb3+ to Yb2+ (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sites structure and spectroscopic properties of Yb-doped and Yb, Na-codoped CaF2 laser crystals

For the first time, the effect of Na+ on crystal structure, valence state of Yb ions, spectroscopic properties of YbF3-doped CaF2 system was systematically studied. Na+ can greatly suppress the deoxidization of Yb3+ to Yb2+. Absorption and emission spectra showed codoping Na+ with different Na:Yb ratios can modulate the spectroscopy and photoluminescence properties of Yb3+ ions in CaF2 lattice in a large scope. The emission lifetime and quantum efficiency of Yb3+ in CaF2 were greatly enhanced by the codopant of Na+. The potential laser performances of the new Yb, Na-codoped CaF2 crystals were predicted. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Concentration effects of Er3+ ion in YAG : Er laser crystals

Laser crystals of (Y1-xErx)(3)Al5O12, (YAG:Er) have been grown by the Czochralski method and the spectral properties have been studied for different Er3+ concentrations. The effects of various Er3+ concentrations on the structural distortions, luminescence quenching Of F-4(9/2), H-2(11/2), S-4(3/2) and red shift in laser wavelength have been discussed for the YAG:Er laser crystals. By using absorption spectra and Judd-Ofelt theory the experimental oscillator strengths, Omega(lambda), parameters and the excited state integrated absorption cross sections of Er3+ ion are reported and some variation regularities of these parameters have been observed. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

SPECTRAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ER3+-ACTIVATED AND CE3+-SENSITIZED YTTRIUM-ALUMINUM-GARNET LASER CRYSTALS

We report in this paper the spectral characteristics of Er3+ (2 at.%)-activated and Ce3+ (0.3 at.%)-sensitized yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG:Er,Ce) laser crystals grown by the Czochralski technique. The absorption and emission spectra were measured at room temperature. By using absorption spectra and Judd-Ofelt theory the experimental oscillator strengths of the Er3+ transitions in the YAG:Er,Ce crystals were calculated. The energy transfer between the Er3+ and Ce3+ ions is also discussed.

Time-resolved study electronic and thermal contributions to the nonlinear refractive index of Nd3+: SBN laser crystals

The propagation of an optical beam through dielectric media induces changes in the refractive index, An, which causes self-focusing or self-defocusing. In the particular case of ion-doped solids, there are thermal and non-thermal lens effects, where the latter is due to the polarizability difference, Delta alpha, between the excited and ground states, the so-called population lens (PL) effect. PL is a pure electronic contribution to the nonlinearity, while the thermal lens (TL) effect is caused by the conversion of part of the absorbed energy into heat. In time-resolved measurements such as Z-scan and TL transient experiments, it is not easy to separate these two contributions to nonlinear refractive index because they usually have similar response times. In this work, we performed time-resolved measurements using both Z-scan and mode mismatched TL in order to discriminate thermal and electronic contributions to the laser-induced refractive index change of the Nd3+-doped Strontium Barium Niobate (SrxBa1-xNb2O6) laser crystal. Combining numerical simulations with experimental results we could successfully distinguish between the two contributions to An. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ti:sapphire laser pumped high average power laser crystal Nd:GGG with high efficiency output

High-quality neodymium doped GGG laser crystals have been grown by Czochralski (Cz) method. Results of Nd:GGG thin chip laser operating at 1.064 μm pumped by Ti:sapphire laser operating at 808 nm were reported. The slop efficiency was as high as 20%.

Intense upconversion and infrared emissions in Er3+;Yb3+ codoped Lu2 Si O5 and (Lu0.5 Gd0.5)2 Si O5 crystals

High optical quality Lu2SiO5 (LSO) and (Lu0.5Gd0.5)(2)SiO5 (LGSO) laser crystals codoped with Er3+ and Yb3+ have been fabricated by the Czochralski method. Intense upconversion (UC) and infrared emission (1543 nm) are observed under excitation of 975 nm. The luminescence processes are explained and the emission efficiencies are quantitatively obtained by measuring the UC efficiency and calculating the emission cross section. The temperature-dependent optical properties of the crystals are also investigated. Our study indicates that Er3+-Yb3+ : LSO and Er3+-Yb3+: LGSO crystals are promising gain media for developing the solid-state 1.5 mu m optical amplifiers and tunable UC lasers. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

A comparison between TGT and Cz grown Nd : YAG

Large sized neodymium-doped Y3Al5O12 (Nd:YAG) laser crystals have been grown by temperature gradient technique (TGT) method and compared with Czochralski (Cz) method. The comparison of these two crystal growth methods has been listed. The results showed that the TGT method has many advantages over the Cz method. The concentration distribution of Nd ions in the crystals was determined and the absorption spectra of these crystals have been investigated and compared. The TGT grown highly doped Nd:YAG crystal has a larger absorption FWHM than that of Cz grown Nd:YAG crysral. Highly doped Nd:YAG (similar to 2.8 at. pct) crystals could be obtained by TGT.

激光晶体的现状及发展趋势

在分析激光晶体的研究现状的基础上，指出其未来应用及主要发展趋势：面向先进制造技术、激光武器等应用的（1μm波段）高功率、大能量激光晶体；面向人眼安全、遥感、光通讯、医疗等应用的红外激光晶体；面向全色显示、光刻等应用的蓝绿紫和可见光激光晶体；LD泵浦超快激光增益和放大介质材料．

Yb：FAP晶体的生长及光谱性能

应用中频感应提拉法生长出不同掺杂浓度的Yb：FAP激光晶体，运用电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱仪（ICP-AES）测定了Yb^3＋离子存Yb：FAP晶体中的分凝系数约为0．03。随着晶体的生长，晶体中Yb^3＋离子的轴向浓度逐渐增大。研究Yb：FAP晶体在77K和300K温度下的吸收光谱发现，振动谱的变化主要是由电子-声子近共振耦合作用引起的。系统地研究了不同Yb^3＋离子掺杂浓度Yb：FAP晶体的吸收光谱和荧光光谱。通过吸收光谱的测量计算了晶体的吸收截面。Yb：FAP晶体在904nm和982nm处存在Yb

Resonant two-photon cross-section calculations for transitions to 4f5d state in Pr3+: YAG using density matrix theory

The density matrix resonant two-photon absorption (TPA) theory is applied to a rare-earth ion-doped laser crystal. TPA cross sections for transitions from the ground state to the first 4f5d state in Pr3+:YAG are calculated. The results indicate the density matrix TPA theory is attractive in studying TPA in laser crystals. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Calculations of cross sections of resonant two-photon transitions to the second excited 4f5d state in Pr3+: Y3Al5O12 using density matrix theory

The density matrix resonant two-photon absorption (TPA) theory applicable to laser crystals doped with rare earth ions is described. Using this theory, resonant TPA cross sections for transitions from the ground state to the second excited state of the 4f5d configuration in cm(4)s Pr3+:Y3Al5O12 are calculated. The peak value of TPA cross section calculated is 2.75 x 10(-50) cm(4)s which is very close to the previous experimental value 4 x 10(-50) cm(4) s. The good agreement of calculated data with measured values demonstrates that the density matrix resonant TPA theory can predict resonant TPA intensity much better than the standard second-order perturbation TPA theory.