Growth and optical properties of a stoichiometric laser crystal Pr(BO2)3

Single crystal Pr(BO 2 ) 3 with centimeter size was grown successfully by a flux method using 3Li 2 CO 3 -2H 3 BO 3 as a flux. The absorption spectrum , emission spectrum , and luminescence lifetime of the Pr(BO 2 ) 3 crystal were measured. The crystal has a relatively large absorption cross section and full widths at half maximum (FWHM), which is advantageous for energy absorption from a pumping source. The spectrum parameters were calculated based on Judd–Ofelt (J-O) theory, and the effective J-O parameters were determined to be: Ω 2  = 37.47 × 10 20  cm 2 , Ω 4  = 6.80 × 10 20  cm 2 , and Ω 6  = 1.05 × 10 20  cm 2 . Furthermore, the emission cross section for the 3 P 0 → 3 F 2 transition at 650 nm was calculated to be 13.6 × 10 −19  cm 2 . The fluorescence lifetime of the 3 P 0 level was obtained to be 4.5 ns. The Raman spectrum of the crystal was also analyzed in detail. Physical properties such as thermal and chemical stability, hardness, and cleavage properties were explored. The refractive index and electronic structure were calculated by the first-principles method.