Spectroscopic investigation of Nd3+ ion in LiNbO3, MgO:LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 single crystals relevant for laser applications

Abstract The polarized absorption and luminescence properties of Nd 3+ doped isostructural LiNbO 3 , MgO:LiNbO 3 and LiTaO 3 nonlinear bulk single crystals are reported. Pump-probe experiments associated with the Judd-Ofelt approach are used to estimate two types of room temperature cross sections: polarized emission cross sections of the dominant 4 F 3 2 → 4 I 1 /2 transition near 1085 and 1093 nm and polarized excited-state absorption cross sections in the same spectral domain and in the green spectral range corresponding to self frequency doubling. Self frequency-doubling results are also given in Nd:LiNbO 3 and Nd:MgO:LiNbO 3 versus sample temperature.