Zeeman effect in the luminescence spectra of terbium-yttrium-aluminum garnet

The Zeeman effect is investigated in the green luminescence band corresponding to the 4f→4f radiative transition ⁵D₄ → ⁷F₅ of Tb ³⁺ ions in Tb _0.2 Y _2.8 A _l5 O ₁₂ terbium-yttrium-aluminum garnet at the temperature T = 85 K. It is demonstrated that an external field causes not only the Zeeman shifts of the resonant frequencies of radiative transitions in the luminescence spectra but also changes in the emission line intensities caused by modification of the optical transition probabilities in the σ₋ and σ₊ opposite circular polarization states. Special features of field dependences of the Zeeman effect for the emission lines are qualitatively explained based on the results of numerical energy spectrum calculations for the ⁵D₄ and ⁷F₅ multiplets of the Tb ³⁺ ion in yttrium-aluminum garnet in the geometry of the longitudinal and transverse Zeeman effects. The possibility of nonequilibrium population of sublevels of the (Γ₁, Γ₄) quasi-doublet state of the ⁵D₄ multiplet with energy of ∼20585 cm⁻¹ is demonstrated in an external magnetic field. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 6, pp. 38–45, June, 2008.