Optical and laser properties of Nd:GdVO 4 crystal

Abstract

Nd-doped gadolinium vanadate Nd:GdVO 4 crystal with large sizes and good optical quality has been grown by Czochralski method. When the Judd–Ofelt theory of parity-forbidden electric-dipole transitions of rare earth ions on non-centrosymmetric sites is applied to the Nd:GdVO 4, it results in a good fit on the absorption of the crystal. The spectral parameters of Nd:GdVO 4 crystal have indicated that it is an excellent candidate laser material. The three intensity parameters Ω t are fitted as 12.629×10 −20, 4.828×10 −20 and 8.425×10 −20 cm 2 at t=2, 4 and 6, respectively. In laser experiment, the highest output power of up to 14.3 W at 1.06 μm has been achieved with a 4 mm thick Nd:GdVO 4 crystal sample when it is pumped by a 26 W cw fiber-coupled laser-diode array. The light–light conversion efficiency is 55%, and the average slope efficiency is 62%.