Growth, thermal and spectral properties of Sr6ErSc(BO3)6 crystal

Abstract A new crystal of Sr 6 ErSc(BO 3 ) 6 was grown successfully by top seeded solution growth method from a Li 6 B 4 O 9 flux. Its thermal and spectral properties were investigated in detail. The thermal expansion coefficients are 6.42 × 10 −6 K −1 along a- axis, and 9.75 × 10 −6 K −1 along c- axis, respectively. The thermal conductivity is about 2.2 W/(m K) at room temperature. The emission cross sections at 1548 nm are 1.7 × 10 −21 cm 2 for π -polarization, and 2.0 × 10 −21 cm 2 for σ -polarization, respectively. The fluorescence lifetime of the 4 I 13/2 manifold is 0.78 ms. The results show that Sr 6 ErSc(BO 3 ) 6 crystal is a potential 1.55 μm laser gain medium material.