Investigation of Nd3+ ions spectroscopic and laser properties in SrF2 fluoride single crystal

Abstract The laser properties of SrF 2 :Nd 3+ crystal with neodymium ions concentration of 0.5 at.% were investigated under diode laser pumping. Using temperature tuning of laser diode pumping wavelength two different lines centered at about 1037 nm and 1044 nm attributed to oscillation of different optical centers were obtained. The maximum lasing slope efficiency of 37% was obtained. The absorption and fluorescence spectra of different individual and clustered Nd 3+ ions optical centers were observed depending on Nd 3+ concentration. The lifetimes of the high symmetry L-centers were measured and found to be two orders of magnitude longer than that for clustered M-centers at room temperature. The lifetimes of M-centers at different temperatures were measured and microparameter of ion–ion interaction in Nd-pairs was determined.