Structure, optical and luminescence properties of anhydrous samarium iodate Sm 3 (IO 3 ) 9 (HIO 3 ) 4 .

A new non-centrosymmetric iodate crystal Sm 3 (IO 3 ) 9 (HIO 3 ) 4 has been successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method. The crystal structure is a three-dimensional network with samarium polyhedra linked by iodate groups. It shows a moderate second harmonic generation response of 1.1 × KH 2 PO 4 (KDP). The strongest emission in its luminescence spectrum is located at 600 nm under 403 nm excitation. Hence, Sm 3 (IO 3 ) 9 (HIO 3 ) 4 is a potential orange laser material.