Growth and luminescence properties of a novel crystal with large birefringence: ErBa3B9O18

Novel ErBa3B9O18 single crystals were grown by the slow cooling melt method for the first time. The linear optical measurements show that the crystal is a negative uniaxial crystal with the birefringence up to 0.12 in the visible light region. The Er3+ strong emission of the transition 4I13/2→4I15/2 (1.54 μm) is found by luminescence properties measurement with a decay time up to 227 μs. The large birefringence, excellent luminescence properties, together with the stable physical properties make ErBa3B9O18 have potential applications in optical polarization components and thin disk laser.