Growth of homogeneous Nd:LGGG single crystal plates by edge-defined film-fed growth method

Abstract

Device-size Nd3+:(LuxGd1−x)3Ga5O12 (Nd:LGGG) single crystal plates have been grown by edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) method for the first time. The problems encountered during the crystal growth have been discussed and solved, resulting in a single crystal plate with a length of 180mm. In particular, the evaporation loss of Ga2O3 composition during the crystal growing has been depressed efficiently by using an Ir lid. The crystal perfection was confirmed by X-ray rocking curve with a FWHM of the 32arcsec, meaning a high crystalline quality. It was very interesting to find that the distribution of Nd3+ in the crystal grown by EFG method was more homogeneous than that in Cz method, benefitting from the larger segregation coefficient of Nd3+ in EFG method. The thermal conductivity was measured to be 8.1Wm−1K−1 at room temperature. All the properties showed that the Nd:LGGG crystal plates grown by EFG method were promising for high power laser application.