Second harmonic generation in Na₃Gd₂(BO₃)₃ crystals

Abstract

Abstract Na 3 Gd 2 (BO 3 ) 3 crystals with dimensions up to 22 × 20 × 5 mm 3 has been grown from NaBO 2 flux by the top‐seeded solution growth (TSSG) method for the first time. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) result shows that Na 3 Gd 2 (BO 3 ) 3 melts incongruently. The infrared spectrum indicates that Na 3 Gd 2 (BO 3 ) 3 contains characteristic triangular [BO 3 ] 3– groups responsible for the nonlinear optical effect. For the as‐grown crystal, the transmittance exceeds 80% in the wavelength range of 315 nm to 2670 nm, and the UV cutoff wavelength is 207 nm. The damage threshold is 0.47 GW cm –2 at 1064 nm. Moreover, Na 3 Gd 2 (BO 3 ) 3 crystal exhibits an optical second harmonic generation effect which is 1.3 times as large as that of KH 2 PO 4 (KDP). (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)