Improved Hardness of Single-Crystal ^: to Ionizing Radiation via Co-Doping with

The proliferation of optical elements in systems that are subject to harsh ionizing radiation environments prompts the need for commercially available radiation-hard materials, such as laser materials. In the present study, changes in the material optical absorption are compared for a suite of single-crystal YAG, Nd 3+ :YAG, and Cr 3+ ,Nd 3+ :YAG laser materials in response to high-dose-rate gamma radiation events. It is found that the addition of Cr 3+ yields radiation hardened material.