Origin of the 420 nm Absorption Band and Effect of Doping Fluorine in PbWO4 Crystals

The electronic structures for three types of PbW04 (PWO) crystals, the perfect PWO, the PWO containing lead vacancy (PWO-Vpb) and fluorine doped PWO crystal (F^-：PWO), are systematically studied within the framework of density functional theory. The computational results show that the Pb 6s state situates below the valence band so that Pb^2 ions are unable to trap holes forming Pb^3 or Pb^4 to compensate for VPb^2-. The hole-trappers in PWO-Vpb are O^2- ions. Two of the longer-bond O^2- ions share a hole forming O2^3-, and four of the longer-bond oxygen ions trap two holes forming an associated color centre [O2^3--Vpb-O2^3-], which may be the origin of the 42Onto absorption band. It is also concluded that the doping of F^- would reduce the band gap and F^- ions substituting for O^2- can effectively restrict the formation of [O2^3--Vpb-O2^3-] and weaken the 42Onm absorption band and hence enhance the scintillation property of PWO.     

Fabrication of Microstructures in LiF Crystals by a Femtosecond Laser

We report the space-selective formation of colour centres and refractive index change in LiF crystals at room temperature by an 800nm Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser irradiation. Optical absorption and photoluminescence spectra have been measured for the crystal before and after the laser irradiation. The absorption spectra indicate F and F3^ colour centres are induced in LiF after the laser irradiation. When the temperature of heat treatment reaches 300℃, the absorption peak disappears, indicating that the induced colour centres are bleached. The induced refractive index change is also evaluated. A mechanism for the formation of colour centres and refractive index change is proposed.     

Radiation Induced Optical Absorption of Cubic Lead Fluoride Crystals and the Effect of Annealing

Transparent and colorless lead fluoride crystals with sizes of 20 × 20 × 20 （ram3） are irradiated with several doses of γ-rays from a ^60Co source. Their transmittance spectra before and after irradiation are measured, and a new parameter ΔT = Tb - Ta is defined to evaluate the irradiation damage. Three optical absorption bands peaking at 27Onto, 37Onto and 50Onto are found in the plots of AT versus wavelength, and their intensities increase with the irradiation dose. These optical absorption bands, except the one at 27Onto, can recover spontaneously with time. Thermal annealing treatment can enhance this recovery of the transmittance, while the optimum annealing temperature for different samples depends on the irradiation dose.     

Effect of Mg and Fe Doping on Optical Absorption of LiNbO3 Crystal through First Principles Calculations

Using first principles calculations, we investigate the structural, optical, and electronic properties of LiNbO3 （LN） and M doped LN （M=Mg, Fe）. The density of states are calculated to analyze the effect of doping Mg and Fe ions on the absorption spectra and electronic properties of LN. The results show an ultraviolet shift in the optical absorption edge of Mg-doped LN compared with that of intrinsic LN. On the contrary, the absorption edge of Fe-doped LN crystal reveals a red shift. The optical absorption spectra show an improved optical response in the visible range for Mg-doped LN, which significantly differs from that obtained for Fe-doped LN. The electronic excitations from the valence band to the conduction band of LN leads to an improved optical absorption response in the visible region as observed experimentally. The obvious changes of the doped LN crystal are found in some cases, which provide a helpful guide for preparing doped LN crystal.     

Crystal growth,structure and optical properties of Pr~(3+) -doped yttria-stabilized zirconia single crystals

The development of blue semiconductor light-emitting diodes(LEDs) has produced potential applications for Prdoped materials that can absorb blue light, especially crystals, and we now report structure and optical properties for high-quality Pr-doped single crystals of yttria-stabilized zirconia(YSZ) grown by the optical floating zone(FZ) method.X-ray diffraction(XRD) and Raman spectroscopy showed that all of the single crystal samples were in the cubic phase,whereas the corresponding ceramic samples contained a mixture of monoclinic and cubic phases. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR) spectroscopy showed that Pr was present as the Pr~(3+) ion in ceramic rods and single crystals after heating to high temperatures. The absorption and photoluminescence excitation(PLE) spectra of the Pr-doped YSZ crystals measured at room temperature showed strong absorption of blue light, while their photoluminescence(PL) spectra showed five emission peaks at 565 nm, 588 nm, 614 nm, 638 nm, and 716 nm under450 nm excitation. The optimum luminescence properties were obtained with the crystal prepared using 0.15 mol% Pr_6O_(11),and those with higher concentrations showed evidence of quenching of the luminescence properties. In addition, the color purity of Pr-doped YSZ single crystal reached 98.9% in the orange–red region.     

First-Principles Study on the Electronic Structures for Y^3＋：PbWO4 Crystals

The possible defect models of Y^3＋：PbWO4 crystals are discussed by defect chemistry and the most possible substituting positions of the impurity Y^3＋ ions are studied by using the general utility lattice program （GULP）. The calculated results indicate that in the lightly doped Y^3＋ ：PWO crystal, the main compensating mechanism is [2Ypb^＋ ＋ VPb^2-], and in the heavily doped Y^3＋ ：PWO crystal, it will bring interstitial oxygen ions to compensate the positive electricity caused by YPb^＋, forming defect clusters of [2Ypb^＋ ＋Oi^2-] in the crystal. The electronic structures of Y3＋ ：PWO with different defect models are calculated using the DV-Xα method. It can be concluded from the electronic structures that, for lightly doped cases, the energy gap of the crystal would be broadened and the 420nm absorption band will be restricted; for heavily doped cases, because of the existence of interstitial oxygen ions, it can bring a new absorption band and reduce the radiation hardness of the crystal.     

Electronic Structures of PbMoOa Crystals with F-Type Colour Centres

Electronic structures of PbMoO4 crystals containing F-type colour centres with the lattice structure optimized are studied within the framework of the fully relativistic self-consistent Dirac-Slater theory, using a numerically discrete variational （DV-Xa） method. The calculated results show that F and F＋ centres have donor energy levels in the forbidden band. The optical transition energies are 2.166eV and 2.197eV, respectively, corresponding to the 580nm absorption bands in PbMoO4 crystal. The 580nm absorption band in PbMoO4 is originated from the F-type colour centres.     

Influence of annealing treatment on the luminescent properties of Ta:β-Ga_2O_3 single crystal

Ta~(5+)doped β-Ga_2O_3 single crystals were grown by using the optical floating zone method, and then annealed in the air and nitrogen gas at 1400℃ for 20 hours.The transmittance spectra, photoluminescence(PL), x-ray irradiation spectra, and PL decay profiles of the samples were measured at room temperature.The relevant results show that the optical transmittance of the samples annealed in the air or nitrogen gas was improved.By drawing the(ahv)~2–hv graph,it can be seen that the band gap decreased after being annealed in the air, but increased in nitrogen gas.The PL spectra and x-ray irradiation spectra show that the luminescent intensity of the sample annealed in the air increased substantially,while decreased for the sample annealed in nitrogen.The PL decay time of the Ta:β-Ga_2O_3 annealed in the air increased significantly compared with that of the Ta:β-Ga_2O_3 sample without annealing, but the tendency after annealing in nitrogen gas was opposite.     

Influence of Ba^2＋ and Pb^2＋ Ions on the Raman Dominating Active Vibronic Mode in Strontium Nitrate Crystals

The compositions of Sr(NO3)2 crystals grown from an aqueous solution doped with Ba^2 and Pb^2 were characterized by the electron probe microanalysis technique.It was found that Ba^2 is enriched in {100} sectors and Pb^2 in {111} sectors.The Raman spectra of different parts of these crystals at room temperature in the ranges of 1038-1070cm^-1 and 650-1150cm^-1 were investigated.The results indicated that barium and lead shift the Raman dominating peaks to the lower frequency and broaden the full width at half maximum.Furthermore,barium probably degrades the properties of the Sr(NO3)2 Raman shifter while lead is anticipated to improve it.     

High－Power Blue Light Generation by External Frequency Doubling of an Optical Parametric Oscillator ＊

We report on an all-solid-state high-power quasi-continuous blue light source by the frequency doubling of asignal wave from an optical parametric oscillator (OPO). A 50-mm-long LiB305 (LBO) crystal is used for theOPO, which is pumped by a diode-pumped Nd:YAG green laser (1OkHz, 50ns). Tunable blue emission in a newnonlinear crystal BiB306 (BiBO) is obtained with a wavelength range from 450 to 495 nm. The average power ofthe signal output is as high as 9.3 W from 924 to 970nm. The maximum output of the blue laser with the secondharmonic walk-off compensation is 1.3W average power at 470nm for 6.2W of OPO signal light at 940nm.     

Amplification of fluorescence using collinear picosecond optical parametric amplification at degeneracy

We demonstrate the output characteristic of broadband parametric amplification of incoherent light pulses in a 355-nm pumped degenerate picosecond optical parametric amplification with either saturated or unsaturated amplification.The optical parametric amplifier is seeded by the fluorescence generated in a solution of pyridine-1 dye in ethanol.With the saturated amplification,we can obtain high energy incoherent light pulses,whose full width at half maximum bandwidth varies from 16 nm to 53 nm for the different phase matching angles near degeneracy.Moreover,the unsaturated bandwidth of the amplified pulses fits well to the calculated result at degeneracy.Selecting s-polarized fluorescence with a Glan-Taylor prism,the maximum bandwidth of the amplified fluorescence is found to be 59 nm for a purely s-polarized seed.The maximum output energy is 0.67 mJ for the optical parametric amplifier.By using an optical filter and compressor,the generated high energy incoherent light has great potential as the incoherent pump,signal or idler wave of a parametric down-conversion process,so that a wave with a high degree of coherence can be generated from an incoherent pump light.     

Optical Transient Relaxation of an Ag—BaO Composite Thin Film with a Supercontinuum Probe

The optical transient absorption spectra of an Ag-BaO thin film have been detected at a wavelength ranging from 400nm to 1000nm using the pump supercontinuum probe technique with a resolution of 130fs.We have observed the optical ultrafast relaxation,in which the electrons near the Fermi level of Ag nanoparticles were excited to a non-equilibrium state and then returned to an equilibrium state.The decay time was exponentially fitted and varied from 0.67ps to 4ps for different components of the supercontinuum probe.The peak of an unoccupied state for silver at level X‘4 was estimated to be 1.47eV above the Fermi level.     

Photophysical characteristics of polyaniline with photochromic azobenzene side groups

Photochromic characteristics and optical molecular reorientation in conducting polymer such as polyaniline derivatives containing photochromic azobenzene moieties (PAPNPAPOA) in side chain are studied. Changes in the UV—vis absorption, refractive index, thickness, contact angle and morphology of these films after irradiation of a linearly polarized light with a wavelength of 365nm are measured. The trans-cis isomerization of PAPNPAPOA is proved irreversible even after withdrawing the UV light for a long time. That the structure of main-chain attends by the trans-cis isomerization of side-chain is confirmed by the absorption and the solution colour during the UV irradiation. These effects are discussed by taking the trans-cis isomerization of azobenzene into consideration.     

Influence of Gamma-Ray Irradiation on Absorption and Fluorescent Spectra of Nd：YAG and Yb：YAG Laser Crystals

We investigate the influence of gamma-ray irradiation on the absorption and fluorescent spectra of Nd^3＋：Y3A15 O12 （Nd： YAG） and Yb^3＋ ： Y3A15 O12 （Yb： YAG） crystals grown by the Czochralski method. Two additional absorption （AA） bands induced by gamma-ray irradiation appear at 255nm and 340nm. The former is contributed due to Fe^3＋ impurity, the latter is due to Fe^2＋ ions and F-type colour centres. The intensity of the excitation and emission spectra as well as the fluorescent lifetime of Nd：YAG crystal decrease after the irradiation of 100 Mrad gamma-ray. In contrast, the same dose irradiation does not impair the fluorescent properties of Yb：YAG crystal. These results indicate that Yb： YA G crystal possesses the advantage over Nd： YA G crystal that has better reliability for applications in harsh radiant environment.     

Study on low-temperature heat treatment of purplish red sapphire

A light purplish red sapphire is heat treated in an airtight crucible. The sample changes little in color after receiving heat treatment at 1100°C,but turns to light blue and blue after being treated at 1200°C and 1300°C,respectively. Before heating,the UV-VIS absorption spectra of the sample are dominated by the 551 nm broad absorption band contributed by the d-electron transition ~4A_2→~4T_2 of Cr~(3+). After heating,the UV-VIS absorption spectra are dominated by the 563 nm broad absorption band contributed by the intervalence charge transfer of Fe~(2+)-Ti~(4+). The x ray photoelectron spectroscopy test reveals that the Fe~(2+) and Ti~(4+) ion contents increase with increasing temperature. The sapphire changing from light purplish red to blue in the heating process is owing to the fact that the Fe~(2+) and Ti~(4+) contents grow and the intervalence charge transfer of Fe~(2+)-Ti~(4+) selectively absorbs UV-VIS light.     

Growth and optical properties of Cr~（3＋）-doped CdWO_4 single crystals

A high-quality Cr 3+:CdWO4 single crystal at a size of approximatelyΦ25×80 mm is grown using the Bridgman method with CdO,WO3,and Cr2O3 as raw materials and their molar ratio of 100:100:0.5.The temperature gradient of solid-liquid interface at growth is approximately 50?C/cm and the growth rate is 0.05 mm/h.The X-ray diffraction(XRD),absorption,excitation,and emission spectra of different parts of the as-grown and O2-annealed crystals are investigated.Two strong broad optical absorption bands of about 472 and 708 nm are observed,and they are associated with the transitions 4 A2→ 4 T1 and 4 A2→ 4 T2.The weak 4 T2→ 2 E transition(the R-line)at 632 nm is also observed.The crystal-field parameter Dq and the Racah parameters B and C are estimated to be 1 412.4,776.8,and 3 427.6 cm? 1,respectively,according to the absorption spectra and crystal-splitting theory.A broadband fluorescence at about 1 000 nm due to 4 T2→ 4 A2 transition is produced by exciting the samples at 675 nm.After being annealed in an O2 atmosphere,the crystals become more transparent,while the effective light absorption of Cr 3+ ions is evidently enhanced and the emission intensity is also strengthened due to the reduction of oxygen vacancies in the CdWO4 crystal after annealing.     

Fabrication of Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystals with Controlled Defects by Combination of Holographic Lithography and Two-Photon Polymerization

A new ternary photopolymer system is used in fabricating photonic crystals （PhCs） with controlled defects by combination of single-photon and two-photon photopolymerization. The former process can produce PhCs in one-step recording with a low-power （tens mW） continuous-wave laser at 532nm, while the latter can create desired defects. The preparation of the material, the optical setup and the preliminary experimental results are given. Compared with other methods, this approach is much more accessible and convenient for use of visible light and has advantages of making PhCs in a large scale quickly and economicaJly and introducing any defects exactly, especially for three-dimensional structures.     

Optical absorption properties of Ge-Sb-Te films

The optical properties of monolayer Ge2Sb2Te5 thin films with three different thicknesses prepared by dc magnetron sputtering method at the range of 400-800 nm were studied. The optical absorption coefficients and the optical energy gap (Eg) were calculated, The results gave values for the absorption coefficients in the range of (1.3-7.5)×105 cm-1 which were in the high absorption wavelength region of     

The effects of post-thermal annealing on the optical parameters of indium-doped ZnO thin films

Indium-doped ZnO thin films are deposited on quartz glass slides by RF magnetron sputtering at ambient temper- ature. The as-deposited films are annealed at different temperatures from 400 C to 800 C in air for 1 h. Transmittance spectra are used to determine the optical parameters and the thicknesses of the films before and after annealing using a nonlinear programming method, and the effects of the annealing temperatures on the optical parameters and the thickness are investigated. The optical band gap is determined from the absorption coefficient. The calculated results show that the film thickness and optical parameters both increase first and then decrease with increasing annealing temperature from 400 C to 800 C. The band gap of the as-deposited ZnO:In thin film is 3.28 eV, and it decreases to 3.17 eV after annealing at 400 C. Then the band gap increases from 3.17 eV to 3.23 eV with increasing annealing temperature from 400 C to 800 C.     

Spectroscopic properties of Tm,Ho:LiLuF_4

LiLuF4 single crystals co-doped with thulium （5%） and holmium （0.5%）, having large size, intact shape, and high optical quality, are successfully grown by the Czochralski technique. Absorption and fluorescence spectra of the crystal are measured. The absorption spectrum shows that the main absorption band locates at near 686 and 792 nm and the fluorescence spectrum peaks at 2.05 um. At room temperature, the as-grown Tin, Ho： LiLuF4 single crystals are end-pumped by a fiber-coupled laser diode system with pumping wavelength of 795 nm under CW operations. A power of 50 mw contin- uous laser outout at 2.05-um wavelength is achieved. Meanwhile an obvious green light is detected.