Thermal, spectral and laser characteristics of Nd doped La0.05Lu0.95VO4 crystal

A 0.25 at% Nd doped La0.05Lu0.95VO4 mixed crystal was grown by the Czochralski method. The thermal properties including thermal expansion, specific heat, thermal diffusion, and thermal conductivity were systematically studied. Meanwhile the reasons for cracking of this mixed crystal were also discussed. The refractive index at wavelengths of 633 nm and 1539 nm were obtained with the prism coupling method. The polarized absorption and fluorescence spectra of the crystal were also measured at room temperature. It was found that the fluorescence lifetime of 4F3/2 manifold for Nd3+ in Nd:La0.05Lu0.95VO4 is about 90 μs. Diode-pumped continuous-wave (CW) laser operations at 1.06 μm with a- and c-cut crystals were demonstrated. For the a-cut crystal a maximum output power of 5.41 W was obtained at an incident pump power of 12.9 W. Different from the a-cut crystal, the laser spectrum of the c-cut crystal was found to be dual-wavelength.