Dispersion of Principal Refractive Indices of Monoclinic MgWO4 Laser Host Crystal

Magnesium tungstate, MgWO
4
, is a promising laser host crystal. MgWO
4
is monoclinic and optically biaxial. We have studied the dispersion of its principal refractive indices, np < nm < n
g
, in the spectral range of 0.53 – 1.06 µm. MgWO
4
possesses high refractive index and a strong natural birefringence. np = 1.981, nm = 2.016 and ng = 2.167 at~ 1.06µm.