Abstract

Tetragonal zircon-type rare-earth vanadates REVO₄ (with RE = Gd, Y, Lu) doped with trivalent Nd, Yb or Tm ions are expanding into the sphere of efficient diode-pumped lasers emitting in the near-IR (while SHG and Raman conversion allows one to extend this spectral range). Although vanadates have rather good thermal properties, further power scaling of REVO₄-type lasers requires detailed information about their thermo-optical properties. Present paper is devoted to detailed study of anisotropy and dispersion of thermo-optic coefficients, dn/dT, for YVO₄ and GdVO₄ crystals in identical conditions, together with evaluation of thermal lens properties that are crucial for laser cavity design.

© 2013 IEEE