Crystal Growth of LiNa₅Mo₉O₃₀ Crystals of High Optical Quality

Abstract

The bulk of the LiNa5Mo9O30 (LNM) crystals were successfully grown in the [010] and [001] directions without internal inclusions and cracks, using the Czochralski method with a low temperature gradient. The crystal grown in the [010] direction showed a tendency to twinning. The crystal grown in the [001] direction demonstrated high structural perfection (FWHM = 13″) for the (001) plane and high optical quality Δn ≈ 2 × 10−5. The laser-induced damage threshold was measured along a, b and c axes and was 12.2, 27.0 and 27.5 J/cm2, respectively. The thermo-optical coefficient dn/dT was measured for the main crystallographic axes, which was −5.75 × 10−6, −20.2 × 10−6 and 3.65 × 10−6 K−1 along the a, b and c axes, respectively. The second harmonic generation (SHG) was conducted in the crystalline LNM sample. The maximum efficiency value of 3.5% at a pump power of 12 W was achieved.

Keywords

• crystal growth
• Czochralski method
• lithium–sodium–molybdate
• nonlinear optic crystal
• second harmonic generation