Growth, thermal and spectroscopic characteristics of LiNd(WO4)2 crystal

Crystal growth, thermal and optical characteristics of LiNd(WO4)2 crystal have been investigated. The LiNd(WO4)2 crystal up to Ø15 × 32 mm3 has been grown by Czochralski technique. The hardness is about 5.0 Mohs’ scale. The specific heat at 50 °C is 0.42 J g−1 K−1. The thermal expansion coefficient for c- and a- axes is 1.107 × 10−5 and 2.104 × 10−5 K−1, respectively. The absorption and fluorescence spectra and the fluorescence decay curve of LiNd(WO4)2 crystal were measured at room temperature. Some spectroscopic parameters such as the intensity parameters, the spontaneous transition probabilities, the fluorescence branching ratios, the radiative lifetimes and emission cross sections were estimated.