Polarized spectral properties and laser demonstration of Nd3+:BaGd2(MoO4)4 cleavage crystal

Detailed spectral properties of Nd3+:BaGd2(MoO4)(4) cleavage crystal have been studied. Laser operation of a cleaved 1.2 at. % Nd3+: BaGd2(MoO4)(4) crystal pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser was demonstrated. The achieved highest slope efficiencies are 51% and 16% for a 1061 and 1337nm laser, respectively. The corresponding thresholds are similar to 3 and 45 mW, respectively. The results reveal that the cleaved Nd+3, :BGM crystal has a high optical quality, good parallelism, and flatness and is a promising candidate for microchip laser gain media without processing.