Growth, structure, and spectroscopic characteristics of a promising yellow laser crystal Dy:GdScO3

Abstract High-quality Dy 3+ doped GdScO 3 (Dy:GdScO 3 ) single crystal was grown successfully by the Czochralski method for the first time. The lattice parameters of the as-grown crystal were obtained by Rietveld refinement to its XRD patterns. The effective segregation coefficient of Dy 3+ is calculated to be 0.68. The spectroscopic characteristics of Dy:GdScO 3 are investigated, with special attention to the yellow emission that could be pumped directly by the rapidly developed blue GaN LD. The absorption cross section of Dy:GdScO 3 at 453 nm is 1.8 × 10 –21 cm 2 and the FWHM of this absorption band is about 9 nm at 300 K. Meanwhile, Dy:GdScO 3 exhibits strong yellow emission at 577 nm corresponding to the transition 4 F 9/2 → 6 H 13/2 with stimulated emission cross section of 4.1 × 10 –21 cm 2 . The relatively long fluorescence lifetime (459 μs) and high radiative quantum efficiency of the 4 F 9/2 level indicate a high laser efficiency of Dy:GdScO 3 crystal. All results suggest that Dy:GdScO 3 crystal could be a promising candidate for yellow laser at 577 nm pumped by blue GaN LD.