Effect of heavy Nd3+ doping on defect-sensitive low-temperature properties of yttrium-aluminium garnet laser ceramics
: Li, Tingsong; Jing, Yanqiu; Liu, Yiyang; Wu, Lexiang; Hu, Chen; Li, Jiang; Antuzevičs, Andris; Šarakovskis, Anatolijs; Angervo, Ilari; Lastusaari, Mika; Boiko, Vitalii; Macalik, Bogusław; Komar, Jarosław; Stachowiak, Piotr; Hreniak, Dariusz
Publisher: Elsevier
: 2026
Journal of Alloys and Compounds
: 187805
: 1064
: 0925-8388
: 1873-4669
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2026.187805
: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2026.187805
This paper presents the results of optical and thermal studies of yttrium-aluminium garnet (Y3Al5O12, YAG) optical ceramics doped with Nd3+ ions at concentrations higher than the YAG:Nd3+ single crystals commonly used as laser media. In addition, measurements and analysis of the results of X-ray diffraction, thermoluminescence and Raman measurements were performed for samples with different Nd3+ concentrations to investigate the effect of doping on structural stresses and the formation of possible defects. The effect of these defects on the formation of centres leading to the capture of excitation energy in traps was also determined, identified and analysed by electron paramagnetic resonance and thermoluminescence measurements over a wide temperature range. The obtained results were discussed in the context of using the studied materials in applications as laser materials operating at low temperatures.
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This work was supported by the National Center for Research and Development (Contract No. WPC2/1/SCAPOL/2021), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2023YFB3812000) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship Initiative (Grant No. 2024VEA0014). Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01–2016–2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2. The exchange program between the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Latvian Academy of Sciences is acknowledged for the support to D.H., V.B., A.S. and A.A.
