Optical properties of α-Nd3+: Na3Y(VO4)2 single crystals - Potential laser materials

Single crystals of alpha-Nd3+: Na3Y(VO4)(2) have been successfully grown by the flux growth method and their optical properties were investigated. The alpha-Na3Y(VO4)(2) host crystal belongs to the monoclinic system with the space group P2(1)/n (No. 14). Infrared and Raman spectra were recorded and the assignment of the stretching and bending vibrations of VO43- tetrahedra were performed. IR and R spectra were applied in order to assign the vibronic components of the electronic transitions of the Nd3+ ion. The absorption (4.2 and 300 K) and fluorescence spectra (77 and 300 K) as well as the fluorescence dynamics of the Nd3+-doped title crystals are presented and analyzed in detail. The 300 K absorption spectra have been analyzed using the Judd-Ofelt approach. The Omega(lambda) (lambda = 2, 4, 6) intensity parameters have been evaluated and subsequently used to calculate the spontaneous fluorescence probabilities, the branching ratios and the radiative lifetime for the F-4(3/2) emitting level of Nd3+. The fluorescence branching ratio for the F-4(3/2) -> I-4(11/2) laser transition is 47.3%. The maximum emission cross-section has been calculated to be 17.81 x 10(-20) cm(2) at 1064.3 nm using the Fuchtbauer-Landenburg equation. The spectroscopic properties show that the alpha-Nd3+: Na3Y(VO4)(2) crystal is a good candidate for a solid-state laser. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.