Determination of specific losses in highly transparent Nd : YAG ceramics by laser calorimetry

Specific absorption losses in five samples of Nd : YAG (1% – 4%) optical ceramics are measured by laser calorimetry. The measurement results show that the specific losses increase from 7 × 10^-3 to 13 × 10^-3 cm^-1 as the neodymium concentration increases above 2 at %. The principal possibility of separate determination of scattering and absorption losses using additional measurements of total losses in ceramic material is shown.