Growth and laser characterization of a mixed laser crystal Nd: Lu0.141Y0.855VO4

A new Nd: Lu0.141Y0.855VO4 mixed laser crystal had been successfully grown by the Czochralski method. The reason of the crystal boule appearing additionally yellowish at the bottom was discussed. The X-ray powder diffraction analysis showed that the as-grown mixed crystal possesses the ZrSiO4 structure. The effective segregation coefficients of Nd3+ and Lu3+ ions in the crystal were measured to be about 0.51 and 0.76, respectively. The room temperature fluorescence spectrum of the mixed crystal showed that the FWHM (full-width at half-maximum) of the 1064.9 nm fluorescence band was 5.1 nm, broader than that of Nd: YVO4. A continuous-wave (CW) laser output was achieved with the Nd: Lu0.141Y0.855VO4 crystal at 1.06 μm using laser diode pumping. The maximum CW output power of 1.7 W was obtained with the pump power of 7.6 W, higher than the 1.38 W achieved with the 0.5 at% Nd: LuVO4 crystal under the same experimental conditions. All the results above show that the Nd: Lu0.141Y0.855VO4 crystal is a promising laser material.

► A new Nd: Lu0.141Y0.855VO4 mixed crystal was grown by the Czochralski method.
► The distributions of ions in the crystal were investigated.
► The crystal boule appearing yellow at the bottom was related to the excess vanadium.
► The crystal has wide FWHM of absorption and fluorescence spectrum.
► The mixed crystal has comparative better laser character than that of Nd: LuVO4.