The IRG team has discovered new high-entropy rare earth borate (RnBBO) single crystals with compositions R5Ba3(B3O6)3 and R6Ba3(B3O6)3 (R = Nd, Tb, Sm, Dy, Gd, Yb, Er). These systems have been grown in the form of large single crystals with bandgaps > 5 eV, enhanced optical transparency, broadband luminescence spanning IR to UV wavelengths, and very high laser damage thresholds.
Further, they are second harmonic generation active, they are compatible with type I and type II phase matching, and they support high efficiency frequency mixing.
This work advances MRSEC goals by showing how entropy‑stabilized materials offer a new design strategy for next generation optical materials, particularly in the deep UV, that are poised to propel quantum information technologies via transduction, microelectronic technologies via a broader set of lithography laser sources, and surgical technologies by enabling compact efficient lasers.
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High Entropy Wide‐Bandgap Borates with Broadband Luminescence and Large Nonlinear Optical properties
Penn State Center for Nanoscale Science (2020)
The Center for Nanoscale Science supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research efforts on nanoscale materials. Principal research activities are organized into two interdisciplinary research groups: 2D Polar Metals & Heterostructures and Crystalline Oxides with High Entropy. Center-initiated programs encourage collaborative partnerships with science museums and non-R1 universities as well as engagement in outreach, education, and workforce development initiatives.