Progress in the growth of colquiriite type laser host crystals

Summary form only given. Colquiriite type crystals have the general formula LiMe/sup II/Me/sup III/F/sub 6/ and received their name from the mineral LiCaAlF/sub 6/ that was found in the Bolivian tin mine Colquiri. Among the colquirities especially LiCaAlF/sub 6/ (LiCAF), LiSrAlF/sub 6/ (LiSAF) and, more recently, LiSrGaF/sub 6/ (LiS-GAF) are considered to be interesting laser host crystals for chromium and cerium doping. Single crystals are grown from the melt by the Bridgman or Czochralski methods and exhibit homogeneous doping, as the distribution coefficient is close to unity.