Spectroscopic investigation of the chromium-doped LiNbGeO5 laser crystal

Polarized absorption and emission spectra, and temperature dependences of the fluorescence lifetimes and intensities for the chromium-doped LiNbGeO₅ laser crystal are presented. Crystal symmetry and comparison with the infrared fluorescence properties of the Cr-doped Mg₂SiO₄ and Y₃Al₅O₁₂ laser crystals seem to identify the active center as a Cr⁴⁺ ion in a tetrahedral site.     

Growth of pure and RE-doped Y2O3 single crystals by LHPG technique

High-quality and crack-free Y₂O₃ single crystals containing low concentrations of Tm³⁺, Tb³⁺ and Yb³⁺ were obtained. The crystals were grown in the form of monocrystalline fibers by using a floating zone method with laser heating (laser-heated pedestal growth).     

Excited-state absorption of Co2+ in MgF2 and KZnF3

We report on measurements of excited-state absorption spectra and absolute cross-sections in Co²⁺-doped KZnF₃ and MgF₂ at room temperature in the near-infrared domain. The data are compared with the predictions of the single-configuration co-ordinate model.     

Cascade-avalanche up-conversion in Tm3+:YLF crystals

New efficient mechanisms of long-wavelength excitation of short-wavelength luminescence in a system of rare-earth impurity ions are proposed. The model studied involves a multilevel system of electronic states of a rare-earth ion interacting with the long-wavelength emission that is in resonance with one or several transitions between the excited levels. The concentration of impurity ions is assumed to be sufficiently high, so that the interionic cross-relaxation and the up-conversion play a significant role. Moreover, the model includes processes similar to photon avalanche, in which the photoinduced excitation of a single ion is converted into lower-level excitations of several ions, each of them reentering the process after photon absorption. Numerical solutions of the system of balance equations for a multilevel system are obtained with calculated and semiempirical parameters of self-quenching and up-conversion. It is shown that, in a system of Tm³⁺ impurity ions, short-wavelength luminescence at λ≥0.29 μm can be efficiently excited by radiation at λ?1.11 or 0.649 μm with a moderate intensity.     

Excited-state absorption of Co2+ in MgF2 and KZnF3

We report on measurements of excited-state absorption spectra and absolute cross-sections in Co²⁺-doped KZnF₃ and MgF₂ at room temperature in the near-infrared domain. The data are compared with the predictions of the single-configuration co-ordinate model.     

Luminescence self-quenching in Tm3+: YLF crystals: II. The luminescence decay and macrorates of energy transfer

Microparameters of migration and self-quenching of luminescence from the (³ P ₀, ¹ I ₆) levels of Tm ³⁺ ions are calculated and the luminescence decay from the ³ H ₄, ¹ G ₄, and ¹ _{D 2} levels are analyzed in the concentration series of LiY_1?x Tm_xF₄(x=0.5–10 at. %) crystals upon weak selective excitation. It is shown that the luminescence decay of a thulium ion concentration higher than 0.5 at. % cannot be described by the energy transfer that takes into account only the dipole-dipole interaction. The comparison of experimental kinetic curves with theoretical curves calculated within the framework of the known energy transfer models showed that multipole-multipole interaction is responsible for the self-quenching of the thulium levels. Contributions of higher multipole interactions to the self-quenching are estimated. The decay of luminescence from the ³ H ₄, ¹ G ₄, and ¹ D ₂ levels of Tm³⁺:YLF crystals with different concentrations of thulium ions is described analytically.