New Ternary Sulfide for Double Application in Laser Schemes

Lithium thioindate (LiinS2) nonlinear single crystals were doped with Nd 3+ ions and their spectroscopic properties were studied at 80K and 300K. Thanks to its unextended phonon spectrum with v < 400cm· −1 Nd:LilnS 2 crystals are expected to have luminescence in the 1 to 5 μm region as a result of radiative transitions between sub levels of the ground 4 I manifold. We also report the first observation of a phase-matched second-harmonic generation in the undoped material, using a nanosecond-GPO that is tunable in the range 2.4 - 2.6μm as the pump source. A preliminary vafoe of the type-II nonlinearity yields d eff (XY)=3.4pm/V.