Growth, thermal properties and laser operation of a new disordered crystal: Nd-doped Sr3La2(BO3)4

A novel disordered laser crystal Nd: Sr3La2(BO3)(4) is characterized including its crystal growth, structure, thermal properties, inhomogeneously broadened spectra, and laser performance, which result that this crystal should be a promising gain material for the high-power ultrashort pulsed neodymium laser. The complete set of anisotropic thermal properties were systematically studied for the first time. It has been found that all the thermal conductivities along the three crystallographic directions increase with temperature, indicating a glass-like behavior. Polarized absorption and fluorescence spectra of Nd: Sr3La2(BO3)(4) crystal were measured at 298.15 K and 77.2 K, respectively. The results show that both the absorption and the emission spectra of Nd3+ have been inhomogeneously broadened, and thus it is very promising to be used in laser systems to produce femtosecond pulses. CW laser operations at 1.06 mu m along the b-cut and c-cut directions have been demonstrated for the first time. A maximum power of 533mW with an optical conversion efficiency of 5.5% and slope efficiency of 6.4% was achieved in the c-cut sample. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.