Growth and evaluation of ytterbium-doped yttrium aluminum borate as a potential self-doubling laser crystal

The doped nonlinear optical crystal, ytterbium: yttrium aluminum borate, Yb³⁺:YAl₃(BO₃)₄, has been grown with good optical quality in a high-temperature solution from K₂Mo₃O₁₀ and B₂O₃ fluxes. Room- and low-temperature absorption and fluorescence spectra have been measured, and spectral parameters have been calculated. The ground-state energy-level splitting is 581 cm^-1. The emission lifetime, the absorption cross section, and the peak emission cross section are 0.68 ms, 3.4 × 10^-20 cm², and 0.8 × 10^-20 cm², respectively. In comparison with established laser crystals, the results for the cross sections, lifetime, and energy splitting suggest that this crystal has potential as an efficient self-frequency-doubled laser operating in the green.