Abstract
Tourmaline, as an important mineral, has received intensive interest, since it is not only a valuable gemstone, but also is a piezoelectric or pyroelectric material, due to the polar structural configuration. However, its nonlinear optical (NLO) properties were not explored so far, because a transparent crystal with high transmittance is scarce, being essential to optical functional materials. Here, we report a novel ultraviolet (UV) NLO tourmaline crystal with chemical composition NaAl9(BO3)3Si6O21OH for the first time by combining first-principles analysis and experimental measurements. It exhibits a short UV absorption edge, considerable second harmonic generation effect and moderate birefringence, thereby facilitating its phase-matching coherent beam output in the range from visible to UV regions.
NSTL
Elsevier