Spectral and luminescent properties of Yb3+ ions in YCa4O(BO3)3 crystal

Yb:YCa4O(BO3)3 crystal with large sizes and good optical quality has been grown by the Czochralski method. The spectroscopic properties have been investigated and compared with those of other Yb-doped laser crystals. The absorption and emission cross-sections, the minimum fraction, the pump saturation intensity of Yb3+ have been calculated. The ground-state energy-level splitting is up to 1012 cm−1 and the measured emission lifetime of Yb3+ is 2.65 ms. The calculated luminescence parameters show that Yb:YCa4O(BO3)3 crystal satisfies the fundamental spectral condition for laser emission.