NEW, SOLID STATE LASER MATERIAL WITH ULTRAVIOLET FREQUENCY AGILITY

Continuous tunability in the UV range has until now only been achievable with the use of dye lasers. Unfortunately, the size, complexity, and dye toxicity of dye lasers has made them undesirable for many applications. Cerium-doped colquiriite solid state lasers have recently been shown to operate in the 280 to 320 nm region. In order to provide low-loss cerium-doped colquiriites, suitable for optically-pumped laser systems, a systematic study of the crystal growth parameters used in the Czochralski growth of these materials must be conducted. During the course of this Phase I program, six cerium-doped boules will be grown of the colquiriite isomorphs LiSrA1F(6), LiSr(x)Ca(1-x)A1F(6), and LiCaA1F(6). The effects of growth parameter adjustments and charge compensation techniques and spectroscopic characteristics wil be investigated.