Abstract:
Ytterbium doped crystal is a kind of excellent solid-state laser gain medium, which has been widely used. In this work, Yb∶SrWO
4 crystals with different doping concentrations were grown by Czochralski method. The crystal structure was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, and the cell parameters were obtained by analyzing the powder diffraction data. The actual doping concentration of Yb
3+ in Yb∶SrWO
4 crystal was investigated by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, whose results show that there is an upper doping limit for the Yb
3+ ions and the main charge compensation mechanism in the crystal changes with the increase of Yb
3+ doping concentration. The thermal properties of Yb∶SrWO
4 crystal with different doping concentrations were measured, whose results show that the specific heat, thermal expansion coefficient and thermal conductivity changed slightly compared with the undoped SrWO
4 crystals, exhibiting excellent thermal properties. These results indicate that Yb∶SrWO
4 crystal is a potential solid laser gain medium.