Growth and laser characterization of mixed Nd:LuxGd1-xVO4 laser crystals

A new series Nd:LuxGd1-xVO4 (x=0.1,0.3,0.5,0.6,0.70 and 0.80) mixed laser crystals have been successfully grown by the Czochralski method. The X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) analysis shows that the as-grown mixed crystals possess the ZrSiO4 structure. The cell parameters are found to decrease with an increase of x. The optical absorption spectra of the mixed crystals have been measured at room temperature, and five strong-absorption bands centered at the wavelengths of 531, 594, 752, 807 and 880nm have been revealed in all crystals. They are assigned to the different spin- and electric-dipole-allowed transition from the ground state to the 2K13/2+4G7/2+4G9/2, 4G5/2+2G7/2, 4F7/2+4S3/2, 4F5/2+2H9/2 and 4F3/2 energy levels, respectively. A continuous-wave (CW) laser output has been achieved with the mixed crystals at 1.06mum under laser diode pumping. The maximum CW output power of 377.4mW has been obtained with the pump power of 2W, and the corresponding optical conversion efficiency is 18.8%.