Growth and spectroscopy of Tm3+,Ho3+ co-doped LuYO3 single crystal for 2.1 μm laser

Highlights: • A novel Tm,Ho:LuYO₃ single crystal was grown by the optical floating zone method. • The spectra of Tm,Ho:LuYO₃ crystal exhibit wide-band properties and large emission cross-section at 2$.1\mu \text{m}$. • The up-conversion fluorescence spectrum of Tm,Ho:LuYO₃ crystal in the range of 300–750 nm under 808 nm laser diode excitation was measured. • The results proved that Tm,Ho:LuYO₃ crystal can be a potential for the tunable lasers or ultra-short pulse generation at 2$.$. A Tm,Ho:LuYO₃ crystal was grown using the optical floating zone method. The XRD pattern shows that it belongs to the cubic crystal system (Ia‾3 space group). The absorption cross-section at 796 nm is 3.45 × 10⁻²¹ cm², where the full width at half maximum (FWHM) is 45 nm. The emission cross-section at 2080 nm is approximately 1.33 × 10⁻²⁰ cm². The broad fluorescence band extends to 2200 nm where almost no absorption can be observed. The fluorescence lifetime at 2080 nm is 2.08 ms. The up-conversion fluorescence spectrum and lifetime were also studied. All the results suggest that the Tm,Ho:LuYO₃ crystal is a potential tunable and ultra-short laser media operated at ~2.1 μm.