Growth and characterization of the new laser crystal Nd:LuVO4

Abstract The growth, thermal properties, Mohs hardness, density and laser properties of a new laser crystal Nd:LuVO4 are reported. Nd:LuVO4 crystal belongs to tetragonal system and its cell parameter was calculated: a=7.0275, c=6.2507 A. The measured thermal expansion coefficient are αa=1.7×10−6, αb=1.5×10−6, αc=9.1×10−6/K from 50 to 300 °C along its crystallographic axes respectively. The measured specific heat value is 0.45 J g−1K−1 at 330 K. The highest output power at 1.064 μm is 530 mW at the pumping power of 2.76 W of a laser diode (LD), slope efficiency is 23.1%, and the optical–optical conversion efficiency is 19.3%. The theoretical density of LuVO4 and measured density of Nd:LuVO4 are 6.260 and 6.233 g/cm3, respectively. And its Mohs hardness is measured to be approximately 6. All these properties show Nd:LuVO4 is crystal can be used for efficient LD pump lasers system.