Laser ceramic materials have excellent chemical, thermal, mechanical and optical properties, and are considered to be the next generation of high-performance emerging laser gain materials. However, the existing hot-press formed CaF2 ceramics are difficult to be applied in practical applications due to residual pores and weak polycrystalline properties.
Alkaline earth fluoride laser ceramic materials have low phonon energy, small nonlinear refractive index, high rare earth ion doping, excellent thermal and mechanical properties. They are excellent mid-infrared laser gain materials and are expected to be used in scientific research, medical, Industry and other fields. However, the existing preparation methods of alkaline earth fluoride laser ceramics will result in residual pores in the ceramic, resulting in large scattering loss. So far, the application limitations of alkaline earth fluoride laser ceramics are very large, and high-quality alkaline earth fluorine without pores can be obtained. Laser ceramics are of great significance.
Recently, the Laser and Infrared Materials Laboratory of Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences has made progress in the research of alkaline earth fluoride laser ceramics. The research team used single crystal ceramization to develop high-quality erbium-doped CaF2 transparent polycrystalline ceramics. This sample has obvious polycrystalline structure, good mechanical properties, good transmittance and excellent mid-infrared performance, which provides a broad development prospect for advanced mid-infrared gain materials.
https://ceramics.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jace.17308