Growth and assessment of physical properties of a new nonlinear optical crystal: Lanthanum calcium borate

Single crystals of La2CaB10O19 (LCB) were grown by flux method. The main physical properties of using LCB as a frequency conversion device were evaluated. The crystal has a high transparency from ultraviolet (UV) to infrared range. The four nonvanished nonlinear optical coefficients measured by Maker fringes method are 0.433, 0.484, 0.437 and 0.640 pm/V for d21, d22, d23 and d14, respectively. The damage threshold of (0 0 1) plane of LCB was measured to be 11.5 GW/cm2. Besides the good optical properties, the crystal also has good thermal and mechanical properties and stable chemical properties for processing and application. All these properties provide LCB with a good application prospect as a frequency conversion device.