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Abstract: Nd-doped gadolinium vanadate (Nd:GdVO4) films have been grown on La3Ga5SiO14 (LGS) and sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition for the purpose of fabricating diode-pumped waveguide lasers. Films were grown over a range of temperatures from 600 to 700°C in the presence of an oxygen pressure between 2 and 20Pa. Films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and prism coupling method. Nd:GdVO4 films on different substrates show preferential growth along (200) with smooth surface. However, films fabricated on sapphire substrates have better crystallization quality compared with that on La3Ga5SiO14 (LGS) substrates according to the X-ray analysis. Films with sharper dips were observed on sapphire substrates in comparison with that on LGS substrates, which means a good confinement of the light in the corresponding mode. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: High-quality Nd-doped lutecium vanadate thin films on sapphire substrates have been deposited by pulsed laser deposition (KrF excimer laser). The substrate temperature during the deposition was in the range 600–700°C under different oxygen pressure between 2 and 20Pa. The quality of films and crystallographic relationships were assessed by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and prism-coupling measurements. The refractive indices of the films have been inferred from dark-mode prism coupling measurements and are slightly smaller than that of the bulk crystal. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]