Crystal growth and spectral properties of a mixed crystal Nd3+:LuYPO4

Abstract

A new mixed orthophosphate crystal of Nd3+:LuYPO4 was grown by high temperature solution method successfully. The optical properties including polarized absorption and emission spectra as well as the fluorescence decay curve have been investigated in detail. The calculated absorption cross-sections were 18.6 × 10−20 cm2 at 803 nm with a FWHM of 6.10 nm for π-polarization and 8.96 × 10−20 cm2 at 804 nm with a FWHM of 6.07 nm for σ-polarization, respectively. The broad absorption bands wider than those of Nd:YPO4 and Nd:LuPO4 crystals confirm that the incorporation of Lu3+ ions results in a effectively inhomogeneous broadening of the spectra. Based on J-O theory, some typical parameters such as J-O intensity, fluorescence branching rate and radiation lifetime of Nd3+ ions in Nd:LuYPO4 crystal were systematically calculated. Besides, five strong emission peaks located at 1054, 1061, 1066, 1076 and 1081 nm can be observed obviously from fluorescence spectra. All the results show that Nd:LuYPO4 crystal is a promising laser material applied to 1.0 μm with multi-wavelength emission characteristics.