Raman measurement and optical properties of Nd:GdCa4O(BO3)3 crystals

X-ray diffraction measurements on a 0.65 at. % Nd-doped GdCa4O(BO3)3 (Nd:GdCOB) crystal revealed a noncentrosymmetric monoclinic space group Cm with lattice parameters a=8.091±0.001, b=16.023±0.002, c=3.559±0.006 A, and β=101.30±0.01°. The fitting primitive cell contained two Nd:GdCOB units. Raman data show that the characteristic spectra of Nd:GdCOB are mainly associated with BO3 triangles and partly by Ca(1)O6 octahedra, which implies that the structural rigidity of Nd:GdCOB is mainly associated with the B–O bond stretching and bending modes and partly by the Ca(1)–O bonds. The large distortions of the Gd/NdO6 and Ca(2)O6 octahedra intensify the polar forces and anisotropic lattice forces, which indicates excellent nonlinear properties for Nd:GdCOB. Simultaneously, the large distortions of the Gd/NdO6 octahedra also provide a suitable crystal field for the activated Nd3+ ions, with the site symmetry m lacking inversion symmetry. This condition increases the probability of the parity-forbidden f→f transi...