Growth of High-quality Yb3+-doped Y3Al5O12 Single Crystal Fiber by Laser Heated Pedestal Growth Method

Single-crystal fiber (SCF) is a fiber-shaped monocrystalline material, which is an important tendency for the development of low-dimensional functional crystals.Combining the excellent optical properties of bulk crystals and the high-efficient thermal dissipation as well as the high beam quality of optical fibers, SCFs are believed to solve the bottlenecks of conventional laser fibers such as unfavorable non-linear effects and poor thermal conductivities, can thus achieve higher laser peak powers and pulse energy.Here, we describe the results of synthesis and characterization of two Yb 3+ -doped Y 3 Al 5 O 12 (Yb:YAG) SCFs (Ф0.2 mm×710 mm), which were grown by a selfdeveloped laser-heated pedestal growth (LHPG) apparatus.The prepared SCFs possess a length-to-diameter ratio greater than 3500, a diameter fluctuation less than 5%, and show high flexibility for bending.The analysis of X-ray rocking curve indicates that the crystallinity of the grown SCF is improved compared with that of the source rod.The EDS line scan shows that the Yb 3+ ions are uniformly distributed along the axial direction.Results of these characterizations of SCFs indicate that SCFs maintains excellent crystallinity and high optical homogeneity, showing promising candidate for high-power laser applications.