Growth and properties of Nd:GdVO4 crystal

A new liquid-phase method synthesizing Nd:GdVPO4 polycrystalline materials was introduced and excellent Nd:GdVO4 single crystals were successfully grown by the Czochralski method. The effective segregation coefficients of Nd ion in Nd:GdVO4 crystal were determined. The main defects and the methods of reducing them have been discussed. The fluorescence lifetimes of different Nd ions in crystal were also measured and found the crystal had obvious concentration quenching effect. In the field of high power laser system, a maximum laser output of 14.5 W at 1.06 mum was obtained, and the optical conversion efficiency is 63.0%. Up to 4.93 W laser output at 1.34 mum was also achieved with slope efficiency of 33.3%. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.