Investigation on thermal properties of a new Nd-doped phosphate glass

Thermal properties of a new Nd-doped phosphate glass were investigated. The thermal expansion coefficient was measured by a dilatometric technique. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer was used to measure the temperature coefficient of refractive index (dn/dT) and the thermo-optic coefficient (ds/dT) in the temperature range of 30-100 °C. A low thermal expansion coefficient was observed for the new phosphate glass. The dispersion of the thermo-optic parameters was calculated from an empirical equation. The thermo-optic coefficient (ds/dT) at the working wavelength of 1053 nm is lower than those of other high average power glasses. These results indicate that the new Nd-doped phosphate glass is a good candidate for high average power laser applications.