Influence of annealing atmosphere on the optical quality and pulsed laser performance of Ce, Nd:YAG single crystal

Hydrogen, nitrogen and air atmospheres were used for annealing of Ce, Nd:YAG rods cut from single crystal grown by Czochralski method in nitrogen atmosphere. The optical quality of the rods was studied in terms of the peak to valley deviation of wave front in number of fringes per inch, extinction ratio and lateral scattering loss coefficient. Furthermore, the pulse laser performance of the rods was compared together after annealing in different atmospheres. Better optical quality and laser performance is achieved in H-2 annealed laser rod and results proved that annealing in hydrogen atmosphere is more desirable than nitrogen and air.