Crystal growth, defects, mechanical, thermal and optical properties of Tb3Sc2Al3O12 magneto-optical crystal

Abstract

Tb3Sc2Al3O12 (TSAG) magneto-optical crystal was grown successfully by the Czochralski (Cz) method. Its structure and crystalline quality were determined by the powder X-ray diffraction and X-ray rocking curve, respectively. The chemical etching method was employed to investigate its defects morphology with phosphoric acid as etchant. Based on the Vickers hardness experiment, the mechanical properties of TSAG crystal (including hardness, yield strength, fracture toughness and brittle index) were systematically estimated. The thermal properties of TSAG crystal in the temperature range of 280–500 K were obtained for the first time, which are valuable for evaluating its applications. The transmission spectrum of the as-grown crystal was measured at room temperature and the transmittance in the wavelength range of 505–1445 nm is found to be as high as 82.3%. All the obtained results will contribute significantly to exploring TSAG crystal that used in high-average-power magneto-optical systems.