Optimization of the gain in Yb^(3+)-doped cubic laser crystals of 99.99% purity

This was an outlook on the prediction of the infrared laser potentiality from concentration dependences of the 2F5/2 experimental decay time in Yb3＋-doped solid-state crystals mainly on cubic crystals with 99.99% purity which could be extended to laser ceramics of the same composition.

Nickel-disilicide-assisted excimer laser crystallization of amorphous silicon

Polycrystalline silicon （poly-Si） thin film has been prepared by means of nickel-disilicide （NiSi2） assisted excimer laser crystallization （ELC）. The process to prepare a sample includes two steps. One step consists of the formation of NiSi2 precipitates by heat-treating the dehydrogenated amorphous silicon （a-Si） coated with a thin layer of Ni. And the other step consists of the formation of poly-Si grains by means of ELC. According to the test results of scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, another grain growth model named two-interface grain growth has been proposed to contrast with the conventional Ni-metal-induced lateral crystallization （Ni-MILC） model and the ELC model. That is, an additional grain growth interface other than that in conventional ELC is formed, which consists of NiSi2 precipitates and a-Si. The processes for grain growth according to various excimer laser energy densities delivered to the a-Si film have been discussed. It is discovered that grains with needle shape and most of a uniform orientation are formed which grow up with NiSi2 precipitates as seeds. The reason for the formation of such grains which are different from that of Ni-MILC without migration of Ni atoms is not clear. Our model and analysis point out a method to prepare grains with needle shape and mostly of a uniform orientation. If such grains are utilized to make thin-film transistor, its characteristics may be improved.

Pressure Effects on Spectra of Tunable Laser Crystal GSGG：Cr^3＋ I：Theory

A theory for shifts of energy spectra due to electron-phonon interaction (EPI) has been developed. Both the temperature-independent contributions and the temperature-dependent ones of acoustic branches and optical branches have been derived. It is found that the temperature-independent contributions are very important, especially at low temperature. The total pressure-induced shift (PS) of a level (or spectral line or band) is the algebraic sum of its PS without EPI and its PS due to EPI. By means of both the theory for shifts of energy spectra due to EPI and the theory for PS of energy spectra, the total PS of R1 line of tunable laser crystal GSGG:Cr3+ at 70 K as well as the ones of its R1 line, R2 line and U band at 300 K will be successfully calculated and explained in this series of papers.

Self-limiting laser crystallization and direct writing of 2D materials

Direct growth and patterning of atomically thin two-dimensional(2D)materials on various substrates are essential steps towards enabling their potential for use in the next generation of electronic and optoelectronic devices.The conventional gas-phase growth techniques,however,are not compatible with direct patterning processes.Similarly,the condensed-phase methods,based on metal oxide deposition and chalcogenization processes,require lengthy processing times and high temperatures.Here,a novel self-limiting laser crystallization process for direct crystallization and patterning of 2D materials is demonstrated.It takes advantage of significant differences between the optical properties of the amorphous and crystalline phases.Pulsed laser deposition is used to deposit a thin layer of stoichiometric amorphous molybdenum disulfide(MoS2)film(∼3 nm)onto the fused silica substrates.A tunable nanosecond infrared(IR)laser(1064 nm)is then employed to couple a precise amount of power and number of pulses into the amorphous materials for controlled crystallization and direct writing processes.The IR laser interaction with the amorphous layer results in fast heating,crystallization,and/or evaporation of the materials within a narrow processing window.However,reduction of the midgap and defect states in the as crystallized layers decreases the laser coupling efficiency leading to higher tolerance to process parameters.The deliberate design of such laser 2D material interactions allows the selflimiting crystallization phenomena to occur with increased quality and a much broader processing window.This unique laser processing approach allows high-quality crystallization,direct writing,patterning,and the integration of various 2D materials into future functional devices.

Progress of 1.5～1.6 μm Laser Crystals

Eye-safe 1.5～1.6 μm lasers have important applications in optical fiber communication, medicine, laser-range-finding, lidar, etc. Er^3＋ and Yb^3＋ co-doped crystal pumped by diode laser around 976 nm is an attractive method for obtaining 1.5～1.6 μm laser in compact device with high output beam quality. In this paper, the recent research and progress of several important Er^3＋ and Yb^3＋ co-doped laser crystals at 1.5～1.6 μm in authors’ lab are reported.

J-mixing Effect of the Crystal-field on the Spectroscopic Characteristics of Rare-earth Doped Laser Crystals

By using the re-derived formulae for both line-strength of electricdipole transition and simple J-mixing coefficients within the 4f shell in a rare-earthion, the spectroscopic properties of the luminescent material Eu3+ =Y2O3 and laser crystals Tb3+:=YAlO3 and Nd3+:YVO4, are investigated in detail. On the basis of three fitting Ω parameters and the effective reduced matrix elements, the spectral linestrengths, spontaneous emission probabilities, fluorescent branching ratios and lifetimeare calculated. The better agreement between theoretical results and experimental dataindicates the importance of J-mixing in the spectroscopic study of laser crystals.

Poly-Si Thin Film Grown by Excimer Laser Crystallization and Its Ellipsometric Analysis

A novel approach of two-step laser crystallization for the growth of poly-Si thin film on glass substrate is investigated. Using this approach, we fabricated poly-Si thin film transistors with electron mobility of 103 cm2/V·s and on/off current ratio of 1×10~7.They are better than those of the poly-Si TFTs fabricated by conventional single-step excimer laser crystallization. We also analyzed the structure of the laser crystallized poly-Si thin film by spectroscopic ellipsometry, and proposed the models to simulate the poly-Si thin film and calculated the ellipsometric spectra. The calculated results are in good agreement with the measured results.

Pressure Effects on Spectra of Tunable Laser Crystal GSGG:Cr3+ II: Energy Spectra at Normal Pressure, Low and Room Temperatures

With the strong-field scheme and trigonal bases, the complete d3 energy matrix in a trigonally distorted cubic-field has been constructed. By diagonalizing this matrix, the normal-pressure energy spectra and wavefunctions of GSGG:Cr3+ at 70 K and 300 K have been calculated without the electron-phonon interaction (EPI), respectively. Further, the contributions to energy spectra from EPI at two temperatures have also been calculated, where temperature-independent terms of EPI are found to be dominant. The sum of aforementioned two parts gives rise to the total energy spectrum. The calculated results are in good agreement with all the optical-spectral experimental data and the experimental results of and . It is found that the contribution from EPI to R1 line of GSGG:Cr3+ with taking into account spin-orbit interaction (Hso) and trigonal field (Vtrig) is much larger than the one with neglecting Hso and Vtrig, and accordingly it is essential for the calculation of the EPI effect to take first into account Hso and Vtrig. The admixture of base-wavefunctions,and , the average energy separation and their variations with temperature have been calculated and discussed.

Pressure Effects on Spectra of Tunable Laser Crystal GSGG： Cr^3＋ IV： Pressure—Induced Shifts of R1 Line, R2 Line, and U Band at 300 K

By means of both a theory for pressure-induced shifts (PS) of energy spectra and a theory for shifts of energy spectra due to electron-phonon interaction (EPI), the 'pure electronic' PS and the PS due to EPI of R1 line, R2 line, and U band of GSGG:Cr3+ at 300 K have been calculated, respectively. The calculated results are in good agreement with all the experimental data. Their physical origins have also been explained. It is found that the mixing-degree of and base-wavefunctions in the wavefunctions of R1 level of GSGG:Cr3+ at 300 K is remarkable under normal pressure, and the mixing-degree rapidly decreases with increasing pressure. The change of the mixing-degree with pressure plays a key role not only for the 'pure electronic' PS of R1 line and R2 line but also the PS of R1 line and R2 line due to EPI. The pressure-dependent behaviors of the 'pure electronic' PS of R1 line (or R2 line) and the PS of R1 line (or R2 line) due to EPI are quite different. It is the combined effect of them that gives rise to the total PS of R1 line (or R2 line). In the range of about 15 kbar ~ 45 kbar, the mergence and/or order-reversal between levels and levels take place, which cause the fluctuation of the rate of PS for with pressure. At 300 K, both the temperature-dependent contribution to R1 line (or R2 line or U band) from EPI and the temperature-independent one are important.

Pressure Effects on Spectra of Tunable Laser Crystal GSGG:Cr3+ III: Pressure-Induced Shift of R1 Line at 70 K

By means of both a theory for pressure-induced shifts (PS) of energy spectra and a theory for shifts of energy spectra due to electron-phonon interaction (EPI), the 'pure electronic' PS and the PS due to EPI of R1 line of GSGG:Cr3+ at 70 K have been calculated, respectively. Their physical origins have been revealed. It is found that the admixture of and base-wavefunctions in the wavefunctions of R1 level of GSGG:Cr3+ at 70 K is remarkable under the normal pressure, and the degree of the admixture rapidly decreases with increasing pressure. The change of the degree of the admixture with the pressure plays a key role for not only the pure electronic PS of R1 line but also the PS of R1 line due to EPI. The detailed calculations and analyses show that the pressure-dependent behaviors of the pure electronic PS of R1 line and the PS of R1 line due to EPI are quite different. It is the combined effect of them that gives rise to the total PS of R1 line, which has satisfactorily explained the experimental data (including a reversal of PS of R1 line). In contributions to PS of R1 line due to EPI at 70 K, the temperature-independent contribution is much larger than the temperature-dependent contribution. The former results from the interaction between the zero-point vibration of the lattice and localized electronic state.

Spectroscopic and radiation-resistant properties of Er,Pr:GYSGG laser crystal operated at 2.79 μm

We demonstrate the spectroscopic and laser performance before and after 100 Mrad gamma-ray irradiation on an Er,Pr：GYSGG crystal grown by the Czochralski method. The additional absorption of Er,Pr：GYSGG crystal is close to zero in the 968 nm pumping and 2.7-3 μm laser wavelength regions. The lifetimes of the upper and lower levels show faint decreases after gamma-ray irradiation. The maximum output powers of 542 and 526 mW with the slope efficiencies of 17.7% and 17.0% are obtained, respectively, on the GYSGG/Er,Pr：GYSGG composite crystal before and after the gammaray irradiation. These results suggest that Er,Pr：GYSGG crystal as a laser gain medium possesses a distinguished antiradiation ability for application in space and radiant environments.

Spectral properties of Tm,Ho:LiYF_4 laser crystal

The LiYF4 single crystal codoped with thulium and holmium ions was successfully grown by the Cz method. The optimal technical parameters obtained were as follows： the pulling rate was 0.16 mm/h; the rotation speed was 3 rpm; the cooling rate was 15 °C/h. The result of XRD curve showed that as-grown Tm,Ho：LiYF4 laser crystal belonged to the monoclinic system with scheelite-type structure and space group I41/a. The cell parameters calculated were： a=0.52160 nm, c=1.09841 nm and Z=4. Absorption and fluorescence spectra of Tm,Ho：LiYF4 laser crystal at room temperature were measured and analysed. The absorption cross section, FWHM and absorption coefficient at 779.3 nm calculated were 7.44×10–21 cm2, 8.7 nm and 2.23 cm–1, respectively. An intensive fluorescence emission peak appeared near 2045 nm. The emission cross section and fluorescence lifetime were 0.87×10–20 cm2 and 10.8 ms, respectively. The ratio of Tm–Ho transfer to its back-transfer process was 10.6.

Growth of Yb∶YAB Crystal and Its Laser Performance

Single crystal of Yb x Y 1- x Al 3(BO 3) 4 (Yb∶YAB) was grown by using flux method based on the potassium trimolybdate. 160 mW efficient continuous wave green output was obtained from a fibre coupled 976 nm laser diode. The conversion efficiency is larger than 11 3%, and the electrical input green conversion efficiency is 3 9%. Tunable green output from 513 0 to 545 8 nm is also demonstrated with a quartz birefringent filter. By enhancing the incident pump power, 1 1 W cw green output can be reached.

Deformation and removal of semiconductor and laser single crystals at extremely small scales

Semiconductor and laser single crystals are usually brittle and hard,which need to be ground to have satisfactory surface integrity and dimensional precision prior to their applications.Improvement of the surface integrity of a ground crystal can shorten the time of a subsequent polishing process,thus reducing the manufacturing cost.The development of cost-effective grinding technologies for those crystals requires an in-depth understanding of their deformation and removal mechanisms.As a result,a great deal of research efforts were directed towards studying this topic in the past two or three decades.In this review,we aimed to summarize the deformation and removal characteristics of representative semiconductor and laser single crystals in accordance with the scale of mechanical loading,especially at extremely small scales.Their removal mechanisms were critically examined based on the evidence obtained from highresolution TEM analyses.The relationships between machining conditions and removal behaviors were discussed to provide a guidance for further advancing of the grinding technologies for those crystals.

Basic properties of a new Nd-doped laser crystal： Nd：GdNbO4

A Nd-doped GdNbO4 single crystals have been grown successfully using the Czochralski technique. The chemical etching method was employed to study the defects in the structural morphology of Nd：GdNbO4 crystal with phosphoric acid etchant. Mechanical proper- ties （such as hardness, yield strength, fracture toughness, and brittle index） of the as-grown crystal were system- atically estimated on the basis of the Vickers hardness test for the first time. The transmission spectrum of Nd： GdNbO4 was measured in the wavelength range of 320- 2400 nm at room temperature, and the absorption peaks were assigned. Results hold great significance for further research on Nd：GdNbO4.

UV–visible spectral characterization and density functional theory simulation analysis on laser-induced crystallization of amorphous silicon thin films

The effect of laser energy density on the crystallization of hydrogenated intrinsic amorphous silicon （a-Si：H） thin films was studied both theoretically and experimentally. The thin films were irritated by a frequency-doubled （λ= 532 nm） Nd：YAG pulsed nanosecond laser. An effective density functional theory model was built to reveal the variation of bandgap energy influenced by thermal stress after laser irradiation. Experimental results establish correlation between the thermal stress and the shift of transverse optical peak in Raman spectroscopy and suggest that the relatively greater shift of the transverse optical （TO） peak can produce higher stress. The highest crystalline fraction （84.5%） is obtained in the optimized laser energy density （1000 mJ/cm2） with a considerable stress release. The absorption edge energy measured by the UV- visible spectra is in fairly good agreement with the bandgap energy in the density functional theory （DFT） simulation.

STUDIES ON THE SELF-ACTIVATED LASER CRYSTAL:NEODYMIUM ALUMINIUM BORATE NdAl_3(BO_3)_4

The study on the growth, laser performances and the relationship between the lumine-scence concentration quenching effect vs. the composition and the structural charac-teristics of neodymium aluminium borate (NAB NdAl_3(BO_3)_4) is reported. By introducingthe atomic parameter L, the difference in luminescence concentration effect of active ionsNd^(3+) in different host crystals with various chemical compositions can be well described.The rationality of the introduction of this parameter is discussed theoretically. A pulsedlaser energy of 1205 mJ at 1.063μm has been obtained. The 1.34-μm pulsed laser and thesecond harmonic generation of 1.063μm laser experiments are studied. The laser energyoutputs at 1.34μm and 0.532μm were measured to be 49 mJ and 25.5 mJ.

Acousto-Optically Q-Switched Operation of Yb:CNGG Disordered Crystal Laser

We report the repetitively Q-switched laser operation of the Yb-doped calcium niobium gallium garnet disordered garnet crystal, achieved with an acousto-optic modulator in a compact plano-concave resonator that is endpumped by a 935-nm diode laser. An average output power of 1.96 W is produced at pulse repetition rate of50 k Hz at emission wavelengths around 1035 nm, with a slope efficiency of 16%. The highest pulse energy of 269 μJ is generated at pulse repetition rate of 1 k Hz, with pulse width 12.1 ns and peak power 20.53 kW.

Passively Mode-Locked Femtosecond Disordered Crystal Laser with Nd:CGA as Gain Medium

We present a laser-diode-pumped passively mode-locked femtosecond disordered crystal laser by using Nd：CaGdAI04 （Nd：CGA） as the gain medium. With a pair of SF6 prisms to control the dispersion compensation, laser pulses as short as 850fs at 1079nm are obtained with a repetition rate of 124.6 MHz. The measured threshold pump power is 1.45 W. A maximum average output power of 122mW is obtained under the pump power of 5.9 W. These results show that Nd：CGA could be a promising laser medium for generating femtosecond ultrashort pulse at about 1 μm.

Femtosecond pulse laser-induced self-organized nanostructures on the surface of ZnO crystal

This paper reports self-organized nanostructures observed on the surface of ZnO crystal after irradiation by a focused beam of a femtosecond Ti：sapphire laser with a repetition rate of 250kHz. For a linearly polarized femtosecond laser, the periodic nanograting structure on the ablation crater surface was promoted. The period of self-organization structures is about 180 nm. The grating orientation is adjusted by the laser polarization direction. A long range Bragglike grating is formed by moving the sample at a speed of 10μm/s. For a circularly polarized laser beam, uniform spherical nanoparticles were formed as a result of Coulomb explosion during the interaction of near-infrared laser with ZnO crystal.