Thermal Conductivity of a Self-frequency-doubling Laser Crystal Measured by Use of Optical Methods

We present a new all-optical technique to measure the thermal conductivity of laser crystals. This technique can be used for crystals that are too small for direct measurement of thermal conductivity. We used this technique to measure the thermal conductivities of Nd:LYAB, with the result of 44 +/- 6% compared with that of Nd:YAG thermal conductivity.