Radiative properties of Nd-doped transparent glass-ceramics in the lithium aluminosilicate system

Abstract We have studied the optical (absorption, luminescence) properties of Nd3+-doped transparent glass-ceramics obtained in the lithium aluminosilicate system. Phase composition of the glass-ceramics has been determined to affect their luminescent characteristics. We have found out that concentration quenching of neodymium fluorescence decreases upon recrystallization of β-eucryptite solid solutions (SS) into β-spodumene ones. The effect is due to partitioning of the rare-earth ions into the crystalline phase. For glass-ceramics nucleated with titania we have shown using the Judd–Ofelt theory that introduction of P2O5 in the glass-ceramic composition has a favorable effect on radiative parameters increasing noticeably the stimulated emission cross-section for the transition 4 F 3/2 → 4 I 11/2 . The influence of crystalline phase value fraction on quantum efficiency estimated from fluorescence decay measurements has been elucidated as well. It has been shown that reasonable values of the fluorescence quantum yield can be obtained provided that thermal shock resistance of materials remains sufficiently high. We have also carried out laser operation testing in a setup with flash lamp pumping. The observed spread in values of lasing characteristics can be attributed to insufficient optical quality of materials due to phase separation effects.