In the past decades, the Tb3Ga5O12 crystal has been market-dominating for visible–near-infrared Faraday applications. However, its relatively low Verdet constant as well as heavy volatilization of Ga2O3 during growth makes it challenging to meet the continuous development of advanced lasers. In this work, a novel Tb3Al3Ga2O12 crystal is designed and studied for the first time. We demonstrated that the Tb3Al3Ga2O12 crystal possesses a better visible transparency, a higher thermal conductivity, and a larger Verdet constant compared with the Tb3Ga5O12 crystal. Moreover, due to the great reduction of Ga content, it is more capable of fabricating large-size low-cost single crystals. Hence, Tb3Al3Ga2O12 is an extremely potential material for Faraday applications in the visible–near-infrared range.

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Tb3Sc2Al3O12 single crystal is a well-known magneto-optical material for visible near-infrared Faraday isolators. Unfortunately, its application is severely restricted owing to the drawbacks in bulk crystal growth. The traditional Tb3Ga5O12...

A high-quality Er3+-doped (Gd1−xLux)3Ga5O12 (Er: LGGG) laser crystal with a size of Φ 36 × 45 mm3 was successfully grown by the Czochralski (Cz) method for the first time. The effective segregation coefficient of Er3+ was determined to be 0.97, close to 1, and, thus, the uniform high-quality Er: LGGG crystal can be grown. In addition, the thermal and spectroscopic properties of Er: LGGG were investigated. Based on the measured characteristics, the Er: LGGG crystal has a huge potential for use in the 3.0 µm mid-infrared laser because of its outstanding optical quality, extraordinary thermal conductivity and stable structure.