Effects of lanthanum content on the thermo-optical properties of (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O₃

ABSTRACT

In this work the thermal lens spectrometry, the optical interferometry and the thermal relaxation calorimetry were employed to determine the thermo-optical properties of transparent ferroelectric ceramic (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O₃ or PLZT, as a function of lanthanum concentration. The use of three independent techniques allowed the characterization of several thermo-optical parameters of the studied PLZT system. Parameters such as thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, optical path length change and temperature coefficient of the refractive index were determined. In addition, the results showed that the thermo-optical properties were significantly modified with the lanthanum concentration, these informations are important for the use of the PLZT system as host of active ions for laser generation.

KEYWORDS:

• Thermal lens spectroscopy
• interferometric method
• thermal relaxation calorimetry
• transparent ferroelectric ceramic
• PLZT
• thermo-optical properties

Funding

The authors are thankful to the Brazilian Agencies FAPESP (process 07/50603-2), CAPES, CNPq (process 208232/2014-1), FUNDECT, and Fundação Araucária, for the financial support of this work. E. A. Falcão also acknowledges UTSA for hosting him under the NSF/INAMM and NSF ECCS 1002380 programs.