Space communications at optical frequencies demand thedevelopment of laser crystals which exhibit high power conversionefficiency. Growth of Nd:YVO4 single crystals by an innovative laserpedestal growth method will be explored. Earlier published work hasclearly revealed that these crystals exhibit a very high slopeefficiency, >50% optical efficiency and 12% electrical to opticalconversion efficiency. Due to the high melting point of yttrium vanadate(about 1825oC), conventional crystal growth techniques yield crystalswith numerous defects. The proposed innovative technique involves thegrowth of these crystals employing a laser pedestal growth method inwhich only a small section of the material is melted with a carbondioxide laser source coupled with a few mirrors to focus the bean at thecrystal-liquid interface. The chief advantages of this method are thatthe growth process is relatively fast and that the crystals are grownwithout any container and therefore the crystals are obtained free fromany contamination. During Phase I, establishing the optimum conditionsfor the growth of these crystals will be in relatively small size.During Phase II, extensive work will be undertaken to grow largecrystals and characterize them thoroughly. Nd:YVO4 crystals will beuseful for the development of lasers for satellite communications,military communications, medical electronics, magneto-optical recording,robotics, micromachining, and microsurgery.yttrium vanadate, lasers, optical communications, micro-lasersSTATUS: Phase I Only
