Assessment of the spectroscopic properties and laser performance of a prominent Nd3+:NaLu(MoO4)2 laser crystal

Abstract A prominent laser crystal Nd 3+ :NaLu(MoO 4 ) 2 with dimension of 25 × 20 × 8 mm 3 was successfully grown from a flux of Na 2 Mo 2 O 7 by the mean of top-seeded solution growth technique. The crystal phase was confirmed by the XRD powder diffraction. The results of the DSC measurements indicate that the melting point of this crystal is 1060 ± 5 °C and that the crystal will decompose into the compounds of Na 2 MoO 4 and Lu 2 (MoO 4 ) 3 when the temperature is above its melting point. The hardness of the crystal is about 440 VDH. The crystal has broad absorption and emission cross-sections. The largest absorption cross-sections are 11.48 × 10 −20  cm 2 and 4.05 × 10 −20  cm 2 at about 817 nm for the π- and σ-polarizations with the full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 10 nm and 16 nm, respectively. The emission cross-sections reach to 12.31 × 10 −20  cm 2 at 1064 nm for the π-polarization and 6.22 × 10 −20  cm 2 at 1069 nm for the σ-polarization. The lifetime is estimated to be 127.6 μs. The laser experiment has also been performed and the highest slope efficiency is about 30.6%. All the results demonstrate that Nd 3+ :NaLu(MoO 4 ) 2 crystal may be a potential laser gain medium for the diode laser pumping.