abstract
Laser crystals Nd3+:Gd3Ga5O12 (Nd:GGG) and Nd3+:Gd3SC2Ga3O12 (Nd:GSGG) were grown by Czochralski method. The influence of gamma-ray irradiation on their absorption and luminescence spectra has been investigated. Two additional absorption (AA) bands induced by gamma-ray irradiation appear in the spectra of Nd:GGG crystal while only a very weak AA band appears for the Nd:GSGG crystal. This indicated that Nd:GSGG crystal has stronger ability to resist the color center formation by irradiation. The intensity of the excitation and emission spectra of Nd:GGG crystal decrease after the irradiation of 100 Mrad gamma-ray. In contrast, a luminescence strengthening effect was observed in Nd:GSGG crystal after exposure to the same irradiation dose. The results showed that the Nd:GSGG crystal is a promising candidate used under radiation environments such as in outer space. Crown Copyright (c) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
keywords
CZOCHRALSKI METHOD; GALLIUM GARNET; COLOR-CENTERS; SLAB LASERS; GROWTH; ND; SCANDIUM
subject category
Optics
authors
Sun, DL; Luo, JQ; Zhang, QL; Xiao, JZ; Xu, JY; Jiang, HH; Yin, ST
Groups
acknowledgements
We thank Xuewu Ge and Yifei Wang for the assistance in the experiments with the gamma-ray irradiation. This work was financially supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and National Nature and Science Foundation of China (no. 50772112).