Abstract
Ytterbium doped Lu1.5Y1.5Al5O12 (LuYAG) nanocrystalline powders were synthesized by a wet chemical mixed precipitant co-precipitation (MPP) method, and then the mixed crystal of Yb:LuYAG was grown in an optical floating zone (OFZ) furnace at the speed of 6–10 mm/h, using a [111] oriented YAG seed crystal. The transmittance of the polished LuYAG crystal is close to the ideal value of LuAG or YAG. The X-ray rocking curve shows complete symmetry and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) is 10 arc-second, indicating the good quality of as grown Yb:LuYAG multicomponent garnet crystal. The thermal luminescent spectrum at room temperature shows four deep energy traps at around 1–1.3 eV. X-ray excited luminesce (XEL) spectra is measured to characterize the existence of LuAl or YAl shadow defects in the bulk single crystal. The emission peak at around 320 nm indicates that the LuYAG crystal prepared by OFZ have lower concentrations of antisite defects (AD) with respect to its Czochralski counterpart.
Highlights
Compared with YAG host material, lutetium aluminum garnet (Lu3 Al5 O12, LuAG) is characterized by favorable properties such as high Zeff, high density, high doping concentrations and outstanding thermal conductivity [1,2,3,4]
Because of the above advantages, LuAG host materials were widely used in solid state lasers and scintillators in transparent ceramics and crystals [5,6,7,8]
In this paper we report, for the first time to our knowledge, the growth of optical grade Yb:LuYAG
Summary
Compared with YAG host material, lutetium aluminum garnet (Lu3 Al5 O12 , LuAG) is characterized by favorable properties such as high Zeff, high density, high doping concentrations and outstanding thermal conductivity [1,2,3,4]. The high melting point of LuAG (2010 ◦ C) and the long growth cycles make it easy to introduce LuAl AD in the crystal, which will affect the optical performances of crystals, especially as scintillators [4]. To reduce the concentration of AD in LuAG crystals, one way is to lower the melting point by introducing the component of low melting point. In 2004, Kuwano et al first used a solar furnace to determine solidification points of LuYAG, and grew LuYAG crystals by CZ method [9]. They investigated the solidification point, the lattice parameter, the thermal conductivity, and refractive index of a series (Lu,Y) Al5 O12 in details. The melting point of the Lu1.5 Y1.5 Al5 O12 crystal is 40 ◦ C lower than that of LuAG crystal [9]
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