The development of solid state tunable lasers in the ultraviolet region would have a wide range of applications, including atmospheric remote sensing, atmospheric spectroscopy and pollution monitoring. The first work with Ce:LiCAF was published in 1993, with subsequent reports on favorable results with Ce:LiSAF. While the optical quality of Ce:LiSAF is superior, it suffers from solarization. In contrast, Ce:LiCAF shows minimal solarization and higher efficiencies, even with the typically high-scatter materials available. This presentation will summarize the crystal growth and material characterization of a series of colquiriite crystals with various Sr: Ca ratios. Based on these results, in addition to laser measurements, an optimum composition of Ce:LiSrchiCa1-chiAlF6 will be determined.