Growth and characterization of a novel nonlinear optical borate crystal – Yttrium calcium borate (YCB)

• New nonlinear optical borate-based crystal – Yttrium calcium borate is grown and characterized.
• Good quality of the grown crystals is evidenced by HRXRD measurements.
• SHG efficiency of YCB crystal is twice that of KDP, and possesses high laser damage threshold value (10.5 GW/cm2).
• The crystal is also non-hygroscopic, favoring real-time device applications.

A new nonlinear optical single crystal yttrium calcium borate Y2CaB10O19 (YCB) was grown for the first time from its melt. The starting materials were prepared by the solid-state reaction method. The melting point of the synthesized material was identified to be 967 °C. YCB crystal exhibits monoclinic crystal structure with the space group C2. The crystalline perfection of the grown YCB crystal was found to be good. From the UV–VIS–NIR studies, the lower cutoff wavelength of the crystal occurs below 200 nm. The functional groups of the grown crystal were assigned using the FTIR data. The second harmonic generation (SHG) of the YCB crystal was observed using a Nd:YAG laser with a fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm. The laser damage threshold value of the YCB crystal was found to be very high – 10.5 GW/cm2.

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