Growth of optically homogeneous BaWO4 single crystals for Raman lasers

The peculiarities of growth process for nominally pure and Nd3+-doped BaWO4 crystals were studied. The growth technology of large optically homogeneous single crystals based on the Czochralski technique with automatic diameter control system and new growth program was developed. Chemical composition, lattice parameters, density and microhardness of as-grown crystals were measured. Several examples of laser generation and self-Raman shifting are given.