Ultraviolet excitation of rare-earth-doped YSZ crystals

Abstract

The optical properties of nominally pure and Er³⁺- or Pr³⁺ -doped yttria-stabilized zirconia single crystals were investigated under UV light excitation. In the excitation spectra of both types of doped crystals, a broad UV band is observed. Under excitation with light of different wavelengths inside this band, the luminescence features of the doped crystals are different. YSZ: Pr³⁺ samples exhibit the characteristic 4f → 4f emission of the Pr³⁺ ions. In YSZ: Er³⁺ crystals, both the Er³⁺ ion and the intrinsic luminescence are observed. Host to Er³⁺ ion radiative energy-transfer is also demonstrated. No dependence of the transfer process with the excitation wavelength was found. These results suggest that the UV band in Er³⁺ -doped crystals is associated with the lattice-dopant ion interaction rather than with the 4f5d interconfigurational band of the Er^3? ions.