Neodymium (Nd) doped lutetium gallium garnet (Nd Lu3Ga5O12 Nd LuGG) single crystal was successfully grown by the optical floating-zone method for the first time to our knowledge Its absorption and luminescence spectra at room temperature were measured By using the J-O theory the spectral parameters of Nd LuGG were calculated which indicated that Nd LuGG should possess comparable and even better laser properties than Nd YAG The maximum output power of 855 mW at 1062 nm was achieved with slope efficiency of 234% under a pump power of 5 2 W and optical conversion efficiency of 164% All the results show that Nd LuGG is a potential laser material (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved