Ti:Sapphire Crystal
Titanium doped Sapphire (Ti:Sapphire) is the most widely used laser crystal for widely tunable and ultrashort pulsed lasers with high gain and power outputs. Its lasing bandwidth can support pulses < 10fs making it the crystal of choice for femtosecond mode-locked oscillators and amplifiers. The absorption band of Ti:Sapphire centers at ~ 490 nm so it may be conveniently pumped by various laser sources such as argon ion lasers or frequency doubled Nd:YAG,Nd:YLF, Nd:YVO4 lasers at ~ 530nm.
Main Applications
He tunable wavelengths that cover a broad range from 700 to 1000 nm make Ti:Sapphire an excellent substitute for dye lasers in many applications；
Doubling by NLO crystals such as BBO in an ultra-thin, Ti:Sapphire can be used to generate UV and DUV (up to 193 nm ) laser with ultrafast pulses below 10fs；
Ti:Sapphire is also widely used as the pump source of OPOs to expand the tunable range.
Basic Properties
| Chemical formula |
Ti3+ : Al2O3
|
|
Crystal structure
|
Hexagonal
|
|
Lattice constants
|
a=4.758Å，c=12.991Å
|
|
Density
|
3.98 g/cm3
|
|
Melting point
|
2040℃
|
|
Mohs hardness
|
9 |
|
Thermal conductivity
|
52 W/m/k
|
|
Specific heat
|
0.42 J/g/K
|
|
Laser action
|
4-Level Vibronic
|
|
Fluorescence lifetime
|
3.2 μs (T=300K)
|
|
Tuning range
|
660 - 1050 nm
|
|
Absorption range
|
400 - 600 nm
|
|
Emission peak
|
795 nm
|
|
Absorption peak
|
488nm
|
|
Refractive index
|
1.76 @ 800 nm
|
|
Peak Cross-section
|
3~4×10-19 cm2
|
|
Thermal Expansion
|
8.40×10-6/℃
|
