Growth, thermal properties and laser operation of Nd:Ca3La2(BO3)4: a new disordered laser crystal.

A novel disordered laser crystal Nd:Ca(3)La(2)(BO(3))(4) is characterized including its crystal growth, structure, thermal properties, inhomogeneously broadened spectra, and laser performance, which result that this crystal should be a promising gain material for the high-power ultrashort pulsed neodymium laser. The complete set of anisotropic thermal properties were systematically studied for the first time. It has been found that thermal contraction happens in the c direction and all the thermal conductivities increase with temperature, indicating a glass-like behavior. Polarized absorption and fluorescence spectra of Nd:Ca(3)La(2)(BO(3))(4) crystal were measured at 298.15 K and 77.3 K, respectively. The results show that both the absorption and the emission spectra of Nd(3+) have been inhomogeneously broadened, and thus it is very promising to be used in laser systems to produce femtosecond pulses. CW laser operations at 1.06 μm along the three crystallographic directions has been demonstrated for the first time. A maximum power of 1.08 W with an optical conversion efficiency of 10.6% and slope efficiency of 12.4% was achieved in the a-cut sample.