Tunable femtosecond laser based on the Nd³⁺:BaLaGa₃O₇disordered crystal

Abstract

We demonstrate clear inhomogeneous linewidth broadening for the disordered laser crystal Nd:BaLaGa 3 O 7 (Nd:BLG), which is very promising for the replacement of Nd:glass for ultrafast sources in multiwatt power applications. A Nd:BLG laser oscillator passively mode-locked and pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser generated pulses of 316-fs duration at 1060 nm, whose spectrum completely fills the fluorescence peak at such wavelength. More interestingly, sub-picosecond pulses were smoothly tunable in a 20-nm range, from 1070 to 1090 nm. The shortest pulses achieved were 290 fs long, centered at 1075 nm.

Thermal and spectroscopic characteristics of disordered melilite Nd:BaLaGa3O7 crystal

“…21 A Nd:BLGM laser oscillator, which was passively mode locked and pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser, generated pulses of 316 fs duration at 1060 nm. 22 To our best knowledge, this is a short pulse generated from Nd-doped crystal lasers so far. The excellent laser properties of Nd:BLGM make attractive to study it extensively.…”

Luminescence Mechanistic Study of BaLaGa3O7:Nd Using Density Functional Theory Calculations

“…The luminescence of Nd-doped BLGO (BLGO:Nd) is the most interesting in academic respects, because the ionic radii of La and Nd do not differ considerably and Nd ions have partially filled 4f orbitals, so a high solubility limit of Nd 3+ and 4f → 5d transition can be expected. 5,11,12 Meanwhile, the luminescence properties of BLGO:Nd are the most significant compared to those of other lanthanides. 13−15 To date, the luminescence mechanism of BLGO:Nd has still not yet been determined even though a large number of experimental studies have been carried out.…”

“…Disordered laser crystals have attracted much attention because they can combine excellent thermomechanical features and relatively broad emission lines. The rare-earth gallates, belonging to the large group of crystals with the general formula ABC 3 O 7 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba; B = Y, La–Gd; C = Al, Ga), have been widely investigated because of their lasing possibilities. − Polycrystalline BaLaGa 3 O 7 (BLGO) was prepared for the first time by Ismatov and co-workers by sintering a stoichiometric mixture of the components at high temperature . Afterward, large single crystals of BLGO were produced by Piekarczyk et al through the Czochralski method .…”

“…Because single crystals of BLGO are transparent in the 1500–41000 cm –1 range, they are of interest as potential host lattices for trivalent lanthanide-ion dopants to form luminescent and laser materials. The luminescence of Nd-doped BLGO (BLGO:Nd) is the most interesting in academic respects, because the ionic radii of La and Nd do not differ considerably and Nd ions have partially filled 4f orbitals, so a high solubility limit of Nd 3+ and 4f → 5d transition can be expected. ,, Meanwhile, the luminescence properties of BLGO:Nd are the most significant compared to those of other lanthanides. − To date, the luminescence mechanism of BLGO:Nd has still not yet been determined even though a large number of experimental studies have been carried out. In general, rare-earth ions always serve as phosphors in the host lattice, because of their 4f → 5d electronic transition after being excited.…”

251 fs pulse generation with a Nd3+-doped Ca3Gd2(BO3)4 disordered crystal

“…Crystals, such as Nd:CLNGG, Nd:CLNGG-CNGG, Nd:SrLaGa 3 O 7 , Nd:BaLaGa 3 O 7 , Nd:LGS and Nd,Y:SrF 2 which have respectively generated 900, 534, 378, 316, 381, and 332 fs pulses have been described. [10][11][12][13][14][15] And, especially lately, a 103 fs pulses was obtained with a cubic crystal Nd,Y:CaF 2 . 16 In recent years, rareearth ion-doped new borate family, M 3 Re 2 (BO 3 ) 4 (M ¼ Ca, Sr, Ba; Re ¼ Y, La, Gd) with structure of orthorhombic system, has attracted much attention due to their large uorescence linewidth and potential to generate polarized ultrafast pulses.…”