Spectroscopic Properties and Diode Laser-Pumped Operation of Nd : YAl3(BO3)4 Crystal

• Published in: Physica status solidi. A, Applied research Vol. 189; no. 1; pp. 253 - 260
• Main Authors: Jiang, H.D., Wang, J.Y., Hu, X.B., Zhang, H.J., Teng, B., Zhang, C.Q., Li, J., Liu, J., Li, S.T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin WILEY-VCH Verlag Berlin GmbH 01-01-2002; WILEY‐VCH Verlag Berlin GmbH; Wiley-VCH
• Subjects: 42.55.Px; 78.20.Ci; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Lasers; Optical constants (including refractive index, complex dielectric constant, absorption, reflection and transmission coefficients, emissivity); Optical constants: refractive index, complex dielectric constant, absorption, reflection and transmission coefficients, emissivity; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Optical properties of bulk materials and thin films; Optics; Physics; S10.15; Semiconductor lasers; laser diodes; Doping; Doped materials; Electric dipole transition; Aluminium Borates; XY model; Yttrium Borates; Diodes; Judd Ofelt effect; Forbidden transitions; Impurities; Rare earths; Laser radiation; Transition elements; Neodymium additions; Optical properties; CW lasers; Centrosymmetrical crystals; Crystal growth from melts
• ISSN: 0031-8965; 1521-396X
• DOI: 10.1002/1521-396X(200201)189:1<253::AID-PSSA253>3.0.CO;2-U

Nd‐doped yttrium aluminum borate, NdxY1—xAl3(BO3)4 (NYAB), with large sizes and good optical quality has been grown by the flux method. When the Judd‐Ofelt (JO) theory of parity‐forbidden electric‐dipole transitions of rare earth ions on non‐centrosymmetric sites was applied to NYAB, it resulted in a good fit on absorption of the crystal. According to the JO theory, the fitted intensity parameters Ωt (t = 2, 4, and 6) were calculated as 2.19 × 10—20, 1.97 × 10—20, and 3.10 × 10—20 cm2, respectively, with a root mean square deviation of 1.22 × 10—21 cm2. The emission properties of the excited 4F3/2 state have been studied, and the spectral parameters of NYAB crystal were compared with those of NdxGd1—xAl3(BO3)4 (NGAB) crystal. A cw NYAB laser at 1.06 μm end‐pumped by a high‐power diode laser array has been demonstrated. A maximum output of 3.2 W at 1.06 μm has been achieved with an optical conversion efficiency of 29.1% and an average slope efficiency of 37.5%. It is found that these results approach those of Nd : YVO4 crystal.