Spectroscopic properties of Tm3+-doped Ba3Gd2(BO3)4 crystal

Tm3+:Ba3Gd2(BO3)(4) crystal with the size up to phi 13 mm x 44 mm was grown successfully by the Czochralski technique and its optical properties were presented. The absorption cross-section and emission cross-section were presented. Also, the potential laser gain near 1.9 mu m was investigated. In the framework of the Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory, the intensity parameters were calculated to be: Omega(2) = 11.375 x 10(-20) cm(2), Omega(4) = 5.077 x 10(-20) cm(2) and Omega(6) = 6.524 x 10(-20) cm(2). The spectroscopic parameters of this crystal such as the oscillator strengths, radiative transition probabilities, radiative lifetime as well as the branching ratios were calculated, too. This crystal is promising as a tunable infrared laser crystal. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.