Effects of Pr3+ doping concentration on optical properties of LaF3 crystal.

• The Pr:LaF 3 crystals with different doping concentrations were grown by the Bridgman method with the dimension is about Φ20 mm × 30 mm. • The effects of Pr3+ doping concentration on the LaF 3 crystal optical properties were expounded for the first time. • The continuous-wave (cw) deep red laser were obtained with different doping concentrations of Pr:LaF 3 crystals pumped by an blue laser diode for the first time. The crystal compositions, fluorescence lifetimes, polarized absorption and emission spectra, and laser performance were measured with different doping concentrations of Pr:LaF 3 crystals. Moreover, the effects of Pr3+ doping concentration on LaF 3 crystal optical properties were expounded for the first time. The study found that high doping concentration is easy to cause cross-relaxation, which in turn leads to a decrease in the lifetime of the laser upper energy level. And then affects the output efficiency of the visible laser. The laser experiment results confirm that the maximum output power of 176 mW was obtained with Pr:LaF 3 crystal of 0.5 at.% doping concentration, which is higher than output power (71.3 mW) of 1 at.% doping concentration crystal. As we all know, this is the first report about continuous-wave (cw) laser operation with Pr:LaF 3 crystal pumped by an blue laser diode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]