Growth and Characterization of High Doping Concentration (2.1 at%) Ytterbium (Yb) Doped Lithium Niobate (LiNbO<sub>3</sub>) Crystal: An Electrically Tunable Lasing Medium
In this paper, we report on the growth and characterization of high doping concentration (2.1 at%) ytterbium (Yb) doped lithium niobate (Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub>) crystal. By using a slightly modified Czochralski method, we have successfully grown a usable size (2 mm × 2 mm × 30 mm) Yb:LiNbO...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Crystals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/15/5/486 |
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| Summary: | In this paper, we report on the growth and characterization of high doping concentration (2.1 at%) ytterbium (Yb) doped lithium niobate (Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub>) crystal. By using a slightly modified Czochralski method, we have successfully grown a usable size (2 mm × 2 mm × 30 mm) Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub> single crystal. We also conducted the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, which experimentally confirm that the grown crystal is a Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub> single crystal. We also measured the absorption and emission spectra of the grown crystal. It was found out that there is a near-flat broad emission within a spectral range of 1004–1030 nm when excited at 980 nm for this high doping concentration Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub> crystal. Such a near-flat broad emission can be very useful for realizing high slope efficiency ultrafast (femtosecond) lasing in the Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub> crystal due to the low quantum defect of the Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub> crystal. We also investigated the electro-optic effect of the Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub>. The experimental result confirms that the electro-optic (EO) effect of a highly doped (2.1 at%) lithium niobate crystal is close to the EO value of the pure lithium niobate. Thus, the highly doped Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub> crystal can still be an effective electrically tunable lasing medium. It can enable electrically tunable, high slope efficiency femtosecond lasing due to the combined features, including (1) a near flat broad emission spectrum at the spectral range of 1004–1030 nm, (2) a non-compromised electro-optic effect at high doping concentration Yb:LiNbO<sub>3</sub> crystal, and (3) a low quantum defect. |
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| ISSN: | 2073-4352 |