Nd:GGG (Neodymium doped Gadolinium Gallium Garnet)

Chemical formula: Nd:Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂

Nd:GGG single crystal has excellent properties, such as high mechanical strength, chemical stability, thermal conductivity and thermal capacity, wide absorption bands at around 808 nm and long fluorescence lifetime. Because of these unique properties,Nd:GGG crystal has been considered as one of the best materials for the high average power solid-state laser. The applications include semiconductor laser pump and can be operated with CW-laser and pulse laser.

Both standard and custom made Nd:GGG crystals and substrates are available at MSE Supplies. Undoped GGG crystals are also available.

Available Nd concentrations are 0.6 and 1.0 (atm%)

Main Parameters
Crystal structure	Cubic Garnet
Growth method	Czochralski
Unit cell constant	a=12.38 Å, (Z=8)
Melt point (°C)	1800
Purity	99.9%
Density	7.09 g/cm³
Hardness	6-7 Mohs
Index of refraction	1.95 @ 1064nm
Thermal Expansion	8 x 10^-6/K
Sizes	5x5 mm, 10x10 mm, 20x20 mm, dia 2", other sizes are available upon request
Thickness	0.5mm, 1.0mm
Surface Polishing	Single or double side polished (epi-ready)
Crystal Orientations	(100), (110), (111)
Surface Roughness Ra:	~ 0.5nm
Package	Packed in a class 100 clean bag.

Reference:

Solid-State Heat-Capacity Lasers: Good Candidates for the Marketplace

MARK D. ROTTER, C. BRENT DANE, SCOTT FOCHS, KAI LAFORTUNE, ROY MERRILL AND BOB YAMAMOTO, LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Nd:GGG (gallium gadolinium garnet) was identified as the laser material of choice, thanks to its high thermal diffusivity (roughly 10 times greater than that of glass), its greater emission cross section (five times larger than glass's) and its greater fracture stress (five times larger than glass's). An additional advantage of GGG is that large slabs may be cut from the boule.

In the pump geometry of a diode-pumped Nd:GGG heat-capacity laser, each slab is pumped by four diode arrays. The individual bars in each array are oriented to direct their output at ~45° to the array surface, as indicated by the arrows.

Ion-implanted Nd:GGG channel waveguide laser, S. J. Field, D. C. Hanna, A. C. Large, D. P. Shepherd, A. C. Tropper, P. J. Chandler, P. D. Townsend, and L. Zhang, Optics Letters Vol. 17, Issue 1, pp. 52-54 (1992), https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.17.000052