Evaluation of ytterbium doped strontium barium niobate as a potential tunable laser crystal in the visible.

A first spectroscopic characterization of Yb3+ ions in Sr0.6Ba0.4(NbO3)2 nonlinear crystal is presented. From low temperature emission and absorption spectra the energy level diagram of Yb3+ ions in this crystal has been built up. The ground state splitting has been found to be as high as 940 cm-1 allowing for potential quasi-four-level laser operation. In order to assess the ability of this system as a tunable solid state laser the main parameters of relevance in laser dynamics have been obtained and compared to those reported for other Yb3+ doped lasers. Optical microscopy has been used to study the ferroelectric domains appearing in the as-grown crystals. A relatively broad distribution of domain sizes (around 3 μm) will, in principle, allow for broadband noncritical second-harmonic generation of fundamental radiation by quasiphase matching. The obtained results make this crystal a promising candidate for tunable laser generation in the visible domain. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]