Crystal growth, optical properties, and CW laser operation at 1.06<i>μ</i>m of Nd:GAGG crystals

Abstract

In this paper, the crystal growth and characterization of Nd:Gd3AlxGa5-xO12 (x = 0.94) (Nd:GGAG) was reported. The X-ray powder diffraction studies confirm that the Nd:Gd3AlxGa5-xO12 crystal is isostructural with Gd3Ga5O12 (GGG) with unit cell parameter of 1.2319 nm. The absorption and emission spectra of the Nd:GGAG crystal at room temperature have been studied. With a laser-diode (LD) as the pump source, continuous-wave (CW) laser performance at 1.06 μm of Nd:GAGG crystal was demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge. The maximum power of 2.44 W from Nd:GAGG laser was obtained with the optical conversion efficiency 28.5%, and slope efficiency of 28.8%.