Novel laser crystal Lu2TeO6: crystal growth, thermal properties, and spectral analysis†

In this paper, novel tellurate crystals Lu₂TeO₆ and Nd:Lu₂TeO₆ in a trigonal system are successfully grown by the top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) method using TeO₂ and Li₂CO₃ as fluxes. The full-width at half maximum of the X-ray diffraction rocking curve of the Lu₂TeO₆(100) and (001) wafers are determined to be 37′′ and 47′′, respectively. The transmittance spectra suggest that the Lu₂TeO₆ crystal has a wide transparency window from 0.5 to 6.5 μm. The Lu₂TeO₆ crystal exhibits excellent thermal properties with thermal conductivity coefficients of 2.709 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ and 3.782 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ along the a and c axes at 50 °C, respectively. Although the Nd:Lu₂TeO₆ crystal shows small polarized absorption and fluorescence anisotropy with absorption and emission peaks at 808 and 1064 nm, both the absorption and emission peak intensities along the c-axis are significantly higher compared to the a-axis. The spectra and thermal properties indicate that the Lu₂TeO₆ crystal may be a potential laser crystal.