Crystal growth, spectroscopic characterization, and continuous wave laser operation of Nd3+-doped LiLuF4 crystal

Abstract

Nd 3+ -doped LiLuF 4 single crystal with high optical quality was grown by Czochralski technique. The segregation coefficient of Nd 3+ in LiLuF4 crystal was determined by the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry method. Polarized absorption and fluorescence spectra were investigated. The peak absorption cross section at 792 nm and peak emission cross section at 1053 nm are 6.94×10−20 and 7.60×10 −20 cm 2 , respectively. With a laser-diode as the pump source, a maximum 6.22 W continuous-wave laser output at 1053 nm has been obtained with a slope efficiency of 37.2% with respect to the pump power. Output power as a function of the incident pump power for the Nd:LiLuF4 laser

Unraveling the Electronic Structures of Neodymium in LiLuF4 Nanocrystals for Ratiometric Temperature Sensing

“…Lithium lutetium tetrafluoride (LiLuF 4 ), owing to its low phonon energy and high chemical stability, is an excellent host material for Nd 3+ doping to produce efficient upconverting and downshifting luminescence . Nd 3+ ‐activated LiLuF 4 bulk crystals have been documented as efficient solid‐state laser crystals, and their nanoscale counterparts have been reported as sensitive NIR‐to‐NIR luminescent nanoprobes for subtissue bioimaging. [6d] Moreover, the luminescence of Nd 3+ in LiLuF 4 lattice is characterized by sharp emission peaks even at room temperature due to the strong CF level splitting,[6a] which facilitates the discrimination of the CF transition lines of Nd 3+ in NIR and thereby enables the assignment of CF energy levels of Nd 3+ in nanoscale LiLuF 4 .…”

Growth, spectroscopy and continuous-wave laser performance of Nd3+:LiLu0.65Y0.35F4crystal

“…The absorption spectra of our crystal have a very similar structure to that of Nd:YLF [14] and Nd:LLF [15] crystals, however, the peak positions of the observed bands and their relative intensity are closer to the Nd:LLF crystal. The calculated absorption cross-section spectra of the crystal for the band around 790 nm are demonstrated in figure 3.…”

Polarized upconversion luminescence from a single LiLuF4:Yb3+/Er3+ microcrystal for orientation tracking

“…1b). The α-configuration, with light propagation along the c-axis, is non-polarized due to the axial symmetry of LiLuF 4 [39]. Based on the customized CLM system, single LiLuF 4 :Yb 3+ /Er 3+ microcrystals with certain orientations can be readily distinguished, and their bright green UCL can be visualized under 980-nm laser excitation (Fig.…”

“…LiLuF 4 is a uniaxial crystal with a tetragonal structure (space group I4 1 /a) isomorphic to LiYF 4 and a single site symmetry of S 4 for all Lu 3+ ions [39][40][41][42]. It is an efficient host material for UCL of Ln 3+ dopants owing to its low phonon energy and high chemical stability [43,44].…”