Materials Research Bulletin, Vol.34, No.10-11, 1589-1593, 1999
Growth and thermal properties of Nd : GdVO4 single crystal
Nd:GdVO4 crystal was grown by the Czochralski method. Thermal expansion and specific heat were measured. The thermal expansion coefficients along the a and c axes are alpha(1) = 1.5 X 10(-6)/K and alpha(3) = 7.3 X 10(-6)/K, respectively. The specific heat is 32.6 cal/mol.K at 330 K. The large anisotropy along the c and a axes of the thermal expansion coefficients is explained by the structure of the GdVO4 crystal. These thermal properties show that Nd:GdVO4 is a crystal that can be used for high-power laser diode (LD) pumped lasers.