Ti-Doped Sapphire (Al(2)O(3)) Single Crystals Grown by the Kyropoulos Technique and Optical Characterizations.

International audienceTransparent high optical quality and large Ti-sapphire (Ti(3+)-doped Al(2)O(3)) single crystals have been grown by the Kyropoulos technique (KT) for optical amplification. The present work shows that by the utilization of KT growth technology and the optimization of the growth conditions it is possible to grow Ti-doped Al(2)O(3), 100 mm in diameter and 5 kg in weight. We have demonstrated that large Ti(0.25 atom %)-doped Al(2)O(3) crystals show high chemical homogeneities and good optical properties and amplify the energy without any special annealing. Ti-doped sapphire crystals are for high power laser applications and particularly for the shortest pulses ever produced from a laser oscillator