Abstract

Potassium lithium niobate in the composition of K₃Li_2−xNb_5+xO_15+2x (KLN,0.15<x<0.5) is considered as a promising medium for blue laser operation by second harmonic generation of commercially available GaAs/(Al, Ga)As diode lasers.^1,2 KLN crystals and fibers have been recently grown by Czochralski,³ top-seed solution growth (TSSG),⁴ micropulling-down (µ.-PD),⁵ and laser heated pedestal growth (LHPG) methods,^6–8 but it is still difficult to grow homogeneous crystals with sufficient size and uniform composition because the crystals crack easily during cooling. Compared with the research of bulk crystal growth, little attention has been paid to the preparation of KLN films. KLN film obviously offers an alternative for the fabrication of compact and integrated blue lasers. In this paper, we report the preparation of KLN nanocrystalline films by sol-gel method. Highly transparent films with good orientation have been obtained on single crystal MgO substrates.

© 2000 Optical Society of America