The growth and spectroscopic properties of Yb:KNGM crystal: A promising ultrashort pulse laser material

Abstract

Yb3+-doped mixed laser crystals are widely recognized as materials capable of generating ultrashort pulses and have garnered significant attention in recent times. In this study, we thoroughly examined the structure and spectroscopic properties of a novel mixed molybdate crystal, Yb:KNGM. Notably, we made detailed observations of an exceptionally broad absorption band with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 78 nm. The broad absorption band indicates that the commercially available InGaAs laser diode (LD) can be effectively utilized for high pumping efficiency purpose. The absorption and emission cross-section at 967 and 1014 nm were calculated to be 1.56 × 10−20 cm2 and 2.05 × 10−20 cm2, respectively. The FWHM of the emission band reaches a substantial range of 62 nm, making it highly conducive to the production of ultrashort pulse lasers. The bandgap (Eg) was fitted as 3.26 eV by Tauc formula. Positive gain cross-section can be achieved while the β is only higher than 0.2 and a large FWHM of 41 nm was discovered when β is 0.5. The aforementioned merits provide compelling evidence that Yb:KNGM crystal holds great promise as a laser crystal for the application of wild tunable and ultrashort pulse lasers pumped by LD.