Journal of Inorganic Materials ›› 2024, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (9): 1029-1034.DOI: 10.15541/jim20240061

• RESEARCH ARTICLE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Doping with Different Concentrations of Y3+ Ions on the Properties of CaF2 Crystals

WANG Xu1,2(), LI Xiang1(), KOU Huamin2(), FANG Wei2,3, WU Qinghui2, SU Liangbi2   

  1. 1. School of Materials and Chemistry, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
    2. Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201899, China
    3. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China
  • Received:2024-02-02 Revised:2024-03-11 Published:2024-09-20 Online:2024-03-22
  • Contact: KOU Huamin, professor. E-mail: huaminkou@mail.sic.ac.cn;
    LI Xiang, professor. E-mail: xiangli@usst.edu.cn
  • About author:WANG Xu (1997-), male, Master candidate. E-mail: wx265432@163.com
  • Supported by:
    Key R&D Program of China(2021YFE0104800);National Natural Science Foundation of China(U2230103024);National Natural Science Foundation of China(52072245);Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality(23511102700);Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality(23YF1413400);CAS Project for Young Scientists in Basic Research(YSBR-024)

Abstract:

Calcium fluoride (CaF2) crystals have good optical properties and chemical stability, and are often used as substrate materials in extreme edge optical window scenes. It is noteworthy that as one of the key properties of UV laser window materials, the radiation damage resistance of CaF2 crystal increases too fast due to the cleavage effect, and the actual damage threshold is much lower than the theoretical value, which cannot meet the needs of UV high-power laser devices, and is the main factor limiting its application in high-power UV lasers. In this study, material composition design was used to introduce Fi- by doping inert rare earth Y3+, and the cluster effect between Y3+ and Fi- was used to increase the bonding number between the cleavage planes, so as to enhance the interlayer bonding force, reduce the cleavage effect and raise the damage threshold. CaF2 crystals doped with Y3+ were prepared under the same condition by using a porous crucible, and their optical quality, mechanical properties and thermal properties of the doped CaF2 crystals were characterized and analyzed. The experimental results show that appropriate amount of Y3+ doping has little effect on the optical and thermal properties of CaF2 crystals, such as transmittance, thermal expansion coefficient and thermal conductivity, and does not affect the performance of CaF2 crystals. However, the influence on mechanical properties, such as shear strength, is relatively prominent. When the optimized doping concentration is 0.36% (in atom), the shear strength is increased by 68.4%, and the corresponding laser induced damage threshold of Y:CaF2 crystal is increased by 166%.

Key words: CaF2 crystal, cluster structure, shear stress, damage characteristic

CLC Number: