Characteristics and Advantages of the Three Major Laser Crystals
Each of the three major types of laser crystals (Nd:YAG, CTH:YAG and Nd:YVO4 has its own unique characteristics that are best suited for certain applications.
Nd:YAG
Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG) is a solid laser material with the best comprehensive performance. It has high gain, a low threshold, high efficiency, low loss, good thermal conductivity and thermal shock resistance. It is suitable for a variety of laser working modes, such as continuous, pulse, Q-switching, mode locking, frequency doubling, etc. These crystals are widely used in industrial, medical, military and scientific research fields.
Characteristics of Nd:YAG ―
- High gain
- Low threshold
- High efficiency
- Low loss
- High thermal conductivity
- Good thermal shock resistance
CTH:YAG
Chromium Thulium Homium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (CTH:YAG) or (Cr, Tm, Ho: YAG) is one of the hot areas for solid-state laser research in recent years. These materials produce excellent crystals for 2.1 μm wavelength lasers. These lasers are commonly used in medicine and optical communications. These crystals also show promise for other applications, such as remote sensing, LiDAR, laser chemistry, laser spectroscopy, material processing.
The main advantages of CTH:YAG ―
- High pulse output energy
- Suitability for repetitive frequency work
- Efficient functioning at room temperature
- Suitability for lamp pumping or diode pumping
- Relatively safe wavelength for human eyes
Nd:YVO4
Neodymium-doped yttrium orthovanadate (Nd:YVO4) has a larger stimulated emission cross section and a higher absorption coefficient for pump light compared to Nd:YAG. Nd:YVO4. is a laser crystal with excellent performance, suitable for manufacturing laser diode pumps, especially for low and medium power lasers. These crystals are used in all solid-state lasers with output near infrared, green, blue, and ultraviolet. Nd:YVO4 lasers have been widely used in materials processing, machinery, wafer inspection, medical inspection and other fields. Nd:YVO4 diode-pumped solid-state lasers are rapidly replacing the traditional water-cooled ion lasers and lamp-pumped lasers in the field.
The main advantages of Nd:YVO ―
- Low light damage threshold and high slope efficiency
- Linearly polarized output for biaxial crystal
- Low-frequency pump wavelength, easy to produce single-mode output
- Large stimulated emission cross section and high absorption of pump wavelength linewidth
- Pump bandwidth at 808 nm is 5 times that of Nd:YAG
- Stimulated emission cross section at 1064 nm is 3 times that of Nd:YAG
About CRYSTECH
CRYSTECH Inc. is a global supplier of laser crystals, Q-switches, NLO crystals, laser optics, 1535-nm bonded crystals, reflectors, laser handpieces, and other products. The company has become one of the leading manufacturers of KTP crystals and laser components in the world. CRYSTECH has workshops for crystal growth, orienting, dicing, polishing, and coating.
To request more information or a quotation for these or any CRYSTECH products, contact IL Photonics.