Measurement of thermo-optic properties of Y3Al5O12, Lu3Al5O12, YAIO3, LiYF4, LiLuF4, BaY2F8, KGd(WO4)2, and KY(WO4)2 laser crystals in the 80-300 K temperature range -: art. no. 103514

Thermo-optic materials properties of laser host materials have been measured to enable solid-state laser performance modeling. The thermo-optic properties include thermal diffusivity (beta), specific heat at constant pressure (C-p), thermal conductivity (kappa), coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha), thermal coefficient of the optical path length (gamma) equal to (dO/dT)/L, and thermal coefficient of refractive index (dn/dT) at 1064 nm; O denotes the optical path length, which is equal to the product of the refractive index (n) and sample length (L). Thermal diffusivity and specific heat were measured using laser-flash method. Thermal conductivity was deduced using measured values of beta, C-p, and the density (rho). Thermal expansion was measured using a Michelson laser interferometer. Thermal coefficient of the optical path length was measured at 1064 nm, using interference between light reflected from the front and rear facets of the sample. Thermal coefficient of the refractive index was determined, using the measured values of gamma, alpha, and n. beta and kappa of Y3Al5O12, YAIO(3), and LiYF4 were found to decrease, as expected, upon doping with Yb. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.