Microstructure and laser emission of Yb:CaF2 transparent ceramics fabricated by air pre-sintering and hot isostatic pressing

Year: 2022

Authors: Liu Z., Wei J., Toci G., Pirri A., Patrizi B., Feng Y., Xie T., Hreniak D., Vannini M., Li J.

Autors Affiliation: Chinese Acad Sci, Shanghai Inst Ceram, Key Lab Transparent Optofunct Inorgan Mat, Shanghai 201899, Peoples R China; Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Ctr Mat Sci & Optoelect Engn, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China; CNR, Ist Nazl Ott, CNR INO, Via Madonna Piano 10C, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Fi, Italy; CNR, Ist Fis Applicata Carrara, CNR IFAC, Via Madonna Piano 10C, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Fi, Italy; Polish Acad Sci, Inst Low Temp & Struct Res, Okolna 2, PL-50422 Wroclaw, Poland.

Abstract: Transparent ytterbium doped calcium-fluoride (Yb:CaF2) ceramics were successfully fabricated by air pre sintering and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) post-treatment from the powders synthesized by the co-precipitation method. The influence of pre-sintering temperature on the densification, microstructures and optical quality of 5 at.% Yb:CaF2 ceramics was systematically investigated. The ceramic sample pre-sintered at 650 ? for 2 h and HIP post-treated at 650 ? for 1 h shows the best transparency with the in-line transmittance of 90% at 1200 nm. The upper level lifetime of the Yb3+ in Yb:CaF2 ceramics was evaluated to be 1.95 ms by the pinhole method. In addition, the laser emission from an optimized 5 at.% Yb:CaF2 ceramic sample yields in the maximum output power of 0.81 W with a maximum slope efficiency of 22.6% at 1028.5 nm under quasi-CW pumping.

Journal/Review: OPTICAL MATERIALS

Volume: 129      Pages from: 112540-1  to: 112540-7

More Information: Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFE0104800) , the Key research project of the frontier science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. QYZDB-SSW-JSC022) and by National Centre for Research and Development (Contract No. WPC2/1/SCAPOL/2021 (DH) .
KeyWords: Yb:CaF2 transparent ceramics; Hot isostatic pressing; Air pre-sintering; Optical properties; Laser emission
DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2022.112540