Application of Combinatorial Synthesis to the Development of New Laser Materials

There is a great deal of interest in the development of new laser materials. We propose to introduce a new powerful technique, combinatorial synthesis, to investigate new laser materials with multidopants. Two independent variables, the dopants and their concentrations, are deposited in a multilayer system with the host crystal components. The proposed dopants will be Cr, Ho, Er and Tm while their concentrations will be 0 at%, 1 at%, 5 at% and 10 at%. A large number (576) of combinations on one crystal host can be achieved with the combinatorial synthesis technology using this number of independent variables. This process will be applied to the crystal hosts YVO4 and Gd3Sc2Al3O12, which are well known and promising laser host materials that can be grown in bulk form with laser quality. The two multilayered specimens will be annealed at low (a few hundred degrees centigrade) and high (1300 degrees centigrade) temperatures in air for high-speed absorption and fluorescent measurements using a special screening method. The most promising compositions will be grown in single crystal fiber form using the laser heated pedestal growth (LHPG) technique. The LHPG technique is an excellent complementary tool to the combinatorial synthesis technique. Small samples of single crystals can be rapidly grown for more detailed examination of the interesting compositions identified by the combinatorial synthesis method.