Dopant segregation in rare earth doped lutetium aluminum garnet single crystals grown by the micro-pulling down method

Crystal Growth and Elemental Homogeneity of the Multicomponent Rare-Earth Garnet (Lu1/6Y1/6Ho1/6Dy1/6Tb1/6Gd1/6)3Al5O12

“…This has been observed in fiber crystals of Cr- or Ga-doped Al 2 O 3 , Cr- or Tb-doped Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 , and Yb-doped Y 3 Al 5 O 12 . Dopant distribution profiles follow the same trend in the bulk crystals of Cr-, Nd-, Yb-, or Ce-doped Y 3 Al 5 O 12 , Nd-, Ho-, Er-, or Tm-doped Lu 3 Al 5 O 12 , and Pr-doped YAlO 3 and Y 2 SiO 5 . Similarly, in (Lu 1/6 Y 1/6 Ho 1/6 ­Dy 1/6 Tb 1/6 Gd 1/6 ) 3 ­Al 5 O 12 RE that are smaller than the average ionic radius concentrate in the center of the crystal, while larger RE segregate toward the outer surface.…”

“…These six REs were selected for this study due to their wide range of RE 3+ ionic radii, 0.097–1.06 Å . Most studies into the elemental homogeneity of micro-pulling-down crystals focus on the distribution of small dopant concentrations − or solid solutions with a smaller number of constituents . Here we used electron microprobe analysis to investigate the distribution of the six principal REs in a highly complex aluminum garnet crystal.…”

Lead-free piezoelectric crystals grown by the micro-pulling down technique in the BaTiO3–CaTiO3–BaZrO3 system

“…Elemental segregation phenomenon is also observed where the core of the fibre is Zr-rich contrary to its periphery, which is Ca-rich. This trend is similar to that which is observed in TSSG-grown BCTZ crystals 15 or in rare earth-doped garnet 41,[55][56][57] grown by µ-PD where strong increasing or decreasing of dopant content is observed from the rim towards the core of fibres. LIBS confirmed this phenomenon where central zone exhibits Zr-rich and Ca-poor contents whereas the other zones, at the rim of the fibre, display the reverse tendency.…”

Phase Separation in Garnet Solid Solutions and its Effect on Optical Properties

“…The polycrystalline YAG:Er 3+ ceramic is synthesized using a solid-state reaction [ 21 ] while the single-crystal form is produced using conventional melt growth such as micro-pulling or the Czochralski method. [22][23][24] Although the spectroscopic properties and laser performance of YAG:R 3+ ceramics (R 3+ = Nd 3+ , Er 3+ , Yb 3+ ) have been shown to be similar to YAG:R 3+ single crystals, [ 14,20,21,25 ] the ceramic form is much easier to fashion into different shapes and is more cost-effective for certain applications such as lasers and phosphors. In the present work, we have shown that formation of a complete solid solution via solid-state synthesis is dependent upon the heat treatment and erbium content.…”