Growth and spectral properties of a novel praseodymium-doped alpha-barium borate laser crystal

Abstract

A novel Praseodymium-doped borate (Pr:α-BBO) laser crystal was grown successfully by using the Czochralski method. The phase structure, absorption and fluorescence lifetime, as well as blue laser diode (LD) pump performances of Pr:α-BBO were totally studied. The segregation coefficient and valence state of Pr ions in the crystals were investigated using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A 450 nm blue LD was employed to carry out a pump experiment on the Pr:α-BBO slab crystal with a doping concentration of 0.22 at.%. The main emission peaks of Pr3+ ions in the orange-red light band were found to be at 611.5 nm, 634.7 nm, and 638.3 nm. The experimental results show that the Pr:α-BBO crystal exhibits higher orange light fluorescence emission performance, with an emission peak intensity at 611 nm that is 2.1 times stronger than that at 635 nm due to the splitting of the 3P0→3F2 transition (635 nm). By optimizing the Pr:α-BBO laser crystal growth process and further solid-state laser experiments, it can be expected to have broad applications in laser medicine, spectral detection, and nonlinear optical frequency conversion fields.