Dual-phase Er:Y2O3/MgO nanocomposites for mid-Infrared solid state lasers

In the pursuit of efficient mid-Infrared laser host materials, we developed a dual-phase nanocomposite composed of a majority species (MgO) which provides high thermal conductivity and a rare earth doped minority species (Er:Y 2 O 3 ) featuring a low maximum-phonon energy. This material was prepared using a co-precipitation method where both components are synthesized together for intimate mixing on the smallest scale. Preparation parameters were tuned to achieve a small crystallite size in order to limit scattering at the grain boundaries between the two different species. Optical characterization of the prepared materials included percent transmission (%T) as well as Raman measurements and Er fluorescence spectroscopy. Once suitable transmissivity was achieved, %T results were compared to Mie scattering calculations to gauge the average grain size in the material; and we determined the smallest average Y 2 O 3 grain sizes achieved in our materials so far was 80 nm in diameter.