Improved performance of Faraday effect based on Pr3+, Ce3+ co-doped terbium gallium garnet crystal

A novel transparent Pr3+, Ce3+ co-doped terbium gallium garnet (Pr,Ce:Tb3Ga5O12, Pr,Ce:TGG) single crystal was grown by the Czochralski technique. Its transmittance is about 80% in 600~1300nm wavelength range except for special absorption peaks. The Vertdet constants (V) of Pr,Ce:TGG crystal at 532nm and 632.8nm are -230 and -153 rad·T-1·m-1, which are both larger than those of terbium gallium garnet (Tb3Ga5O12, TGG) crystal. The thermal conductivity of Pr,Ce:TGG crystal is 3.35 W·m−1·K−1 at 300K. Bulk laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of Pr,Ce:TGG crystal was measured to be 15 J·cm-2 by R-on-1 test. The results show that Pr,Ce:TGG crystal as magneto-optical material has potential ability to be used in optical isolators.