Orthorhombic YAlO3 - a novel many-phonon SRS-active crystal

In single crystals of orthorhombic YAlO3, widely known as a host‐matrix for Ln3+‐lasant ions, many‐phonon stimulated Raman scattering interactions as well as different manifestations of cascaded and cross‐cascaded nonlinear χ(3)↔χ(3) processes are initiated by picosecond laser pulses. The scientific and applicative potential of YAlO3 crystals is considerably expanded by the demonstration of its SRS properties. In particular, the studies revealed the manifestation of eight χ(3)‐active vibrational modes. The corresponding Stokes and anti‐Stokes lines have been assigned and the steady‐state Raman gain coefficients related to the strongest phonon mode have been estimated. In addition, a short review presents the stimulated emission channels of its Ln3+‐ions together with some χ(3)‐nonlinear laser properties of crystals belonging to the binary Y2O3‐Al2O3 system. Stimulated Raman scattering spectroscopy has been performed in orthorhombic YAlO3 single crystals. Picosecond laser excitation of YAlO3 results in both cascaded and cross‐cascaded χ(3)‐nonlinear processes involving eight different Raman‐active modes. An estimation of the steady‐state Raman gain coefficient related to the strongest phonon mode is presented together with a brief review on stimulated emission channels of Ln3+‐ions in crystals belonging to the binary Y2O3‐Al2O3 system.