Development of lanthanum lutetium gallium garnet for application as solid-state laser host

The synthesis and crystal-growth experiments are desribed. ]La3] [Lu2] (Ga3) O12 is the nominal formula for an oxide compound crystallizing with garnet structure, where ] ] denotes dodecahedral, [-] octahedral, and (-) tetrahedral coordination. The nature of constituent ions (no d or f electrons in outer shells) makes this combination of oxides suitable as a laser host. In addition, the existence of three cation sublattices in garnet structure allows an easy incorporation of trivalent active ions-dopants. Actual composition of crystal differs somewhat from the nominal formula and displays cation-site nonstoichiometry described better by formula ]La/sub 3-y/Lu/sub y/] [Lu2] (Ga3) O12