Nd:MgO:LiTaO3 crystal for self-doubling laser applications: Growth, structure, thermal and laser properties

Nd3+ and Mg2+ co-doped LiTaO3 (Nd:MgO:LT) crystal has great potential for applications in self-frequency doubling (SFD) lasers, and self-optical parametric oscillation (SOPO) infrared lasers. However, a related high performance laser device has not yet been realized. No reliable data on the basic physical properties of Nd:MgO:LT have been obtained, because of the lack of high quality Nd:MgO:LT crystals available due to the great difficulty in growing this crystal. In this paper, by optimizing the growth parameters and the thermal field by means of simulation, a high quality Nd3+ and Mg2+ co-doped LiTaO3 crystal was grown by a modified Czochralski method. A comprehensive characterization of the crystal, including structure, composition, thermal properties, and CW laser performance, was performed. The experimental results indicate that Nd:MgO:LT is a monocrystal with strong anisotropic physical properties. The anisotropic thermal expansion was confirmed by observing the lattice parameter variation via temperature-dependent XRD analysis. Some important physical property data, such as thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity and specific heat of the Nd:MgO:LT single crystal are reported for the first time, and should be of great utility for the application of this crystal. A CW laser output power of 3.58 W with an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 11.55, and a slope efficiency of 13.78%, was achieved with an incident pump power of 31 W, which is the highest laser output reported for this kind of crystal. It is demonstrated that single crystal Nd:MgO:LT will have important applications in SFD and SOPO lasers.