Effects of neodymium concentration on optical characteristics of polycrystalline Nd:YAG laser materials

Journal Article · Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1996 · Journal of the American Ceramic Society

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1151-2916.1996.tb08014.x· OSTI ID:282217

Ikesue, A ^[1]; Kamata, K ^[2]; Yoshida, K ^[3]

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1. Krosaki Corp., Kitakyushu (Japan). Technical Research Center
2. Nagaoka Univ. of Technology (Japan). Dept. of Materials Science and Technology
3. Osaka Inst. of Tech. (Japan). Inst. of Laser Engineering

A neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum garnet (Y{sub 3}Al{sub 5}O{sub 12}, YAG) (Nd:YAG) ceramic that contained 0.3--4.8 at.% neodymium additives and exhibited nearly the same optical properties as those of a single crystal was fabricated by a solid-state reaction method using high-purity powders. Although the integrated absorption intensity of the {sup 2}H{sub 9/2} + {sup 4}F{sub 5/2} bands simply increased as the neodymium concentration in the YAG ceramics decreased, the fluorescence intensity of the 2.4 at.% Nd:YAG ceramic was the strongest among Nd:YAG ceramics with various neodymium concentrations and a 0.9 at.% Nd:YAG single crystal. An oscillation experiment was performed on a continuous-wave (cw) laser with a diode-laser exciting system using those ceramics and the single crystal. The oscillation threshold and slope efficiency in that analysis were 309 mW and 28%, respectively, for the 1.1 at.% Nd:YAG ceramics and 356 mW and 40%, respectively, for the 2.4 at.% Nd:YAG ceramics. The lasing characteristics of the ceramics in the present work were superior to those of a 0.9 at.% Nd:YAG single crystal that was fabricated by the Czochralski (Cz) method.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 282217
• Journal Information: Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol. 79, Issue 7; Other Information: PBD: Jul 1996
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
42 ENGINEERING NOT INCLUDED IN OTHER CATEGORIES
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
FERRITE GARNETS
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS
NEODYMIUM
SOLID STATE LASERS
LASER MATERIALS
DOPED MATERIALS
CONCENTRATION RATIO
SILICON ADDITIONS
POWDERS
SINTERING
GRAIN SIZE
FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY
OPTICAL MICROSCOPY
PERFORMANCE