Crystal growth and spectroscopic characterization of Yb-doped and Yb, Na-codoped CaF2 laser crystals by TGT

High-quality 2at%-doped Yb:CaF2 and Yb,Na:CaF2 single crystals with diameter of 76mm were grown by the temperature gradient technique. For the first time, distribution coefficients (KO) of Yb in the two crystals were determined to be 1.07 and 0.91, respectively, by measuring the Yb concentrations at the growth starting position in the as-grown boules. Absorption and emission spectra of the two different crystals were measured at room temperature. Experimental results show that Na+ ions codoping with Yb3+ as charge compensators make Yb3+ ions in CaF2 lattice to be a quasi-single-center system, and greatly suppress the deoxidization of Yb3+ to Yb2+ (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Raman spectra of undoped and uranium doped CaF2 single crystals

Raman scattering experiments for nominally pure and uranium doped CaF2 single crystals were presented. In all crystals, the Raman active T_(2g) vibration mode of CaF2 was observed, whose frequency shift and full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) broadening correspond well with defects and impurities in CaF2 lattice. Additional Raman peaks develop in nominally pure CaF2 with high etch pits density and U^(6+):CaF2 crystals. Part of additional Raman peaks in the experimental results, which are assumed due to vibration modes from F- interstitials and vacancies, are in well agreement with the theoretical predications by employing the Green-function formulation.

Crystal growth and optical properties of Gd1.99-xYxCe.0.01SiO5 single crystals

Gd1.99-xYxCe0.01SiO5 (Ce:GYSO) crystals (x = 0, 0.0995, 0.199) have been grown by the Czochralski (Cz) method. Crystal structure and the distribution coefficients of Ce have been determined for all three crystals. Spectroscopic measurements indicate that optical transmittance and luminescence intensity of Gd1.99-xYxCe0.01SiO5 (x = 0.0995, 0.199) crystals are Substantially higher than those of Ce:Gd2SiO5 (Ce:GSO), especially at x = 0.0995, which makes them good candidate materials for scintillation applications. The particularly important result is that the alloyed Ce:GYSO crystals can be grown easily by the Cz method and, unlike Ce:GSO, they do not undergo cleavage during the growth process or subsequent mechanical treatment. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of Yb concentration on the fluorescence spectra of Yb-doped YAlO3 single crystals

0.5 at.% Yb:YAlO3(YAP), 5 at.% Yb:YAP and 15 at.% Yb:YAP were grown using the Czochralski method. Their absorption and fluorescence spectra were measured at room temperature and their emission line shape was calculated using the method of reciprocity. It was observed that the fluorescence spectra changed appreciably with the increasing of Yb concentration. For 0.5 at.% Yb:YAP, the line shape of fluorescence is very similar with the calculated emission line shape; with the increasing of Yb doping concentration, the line shape of fluorescence is very different from the calculated emission line shape. These phenomena are caused by the strong self-absorption at 979 and 999 nm for Yb:YAP. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of Yb concentration on the spectroscopic properties of Yb : Y3Al5O12

Yb:YAG single crystals with Yb doping concentration 5.4, 16.3, 27.1, 53.6, and 100 at.% were grown by the Czochralski process. The effects of Yb concentration on the absorption spectra (190-1 100nm), fluorescence spectra under 940nm and X-ray excitation were studied. The concentration quenching of fluorescence was observed when the Yb doping concentration reaches to as high as 27.1 at.% for Yb:YAG. Under 940 nm excitation, the influence of the self-absorption at 969 and 1029 nrn on the fluorescence spectra is not evident when the Yb doping concentration is as high as 27.1 at.%. However, it can greatly change the shape of fluorescence spectra of Yb:YAG when the Yb doping concentration reaches to above 53.6 at.%. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Infrared (1.2-1.6 mu m) luminescence in Yb, Cr : YAG with 940 nm diode pumping

Infrared (1.2-1.6 mum) luminescence in a yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) crystal, co-doped with Yb (10 at.%) and Cr (0.05 at.%) ions, was investigated under CW laser diode pumping (lambda = 940 nm). The Cr4+ emission band was observed with its peak at 1.35 mum and measured to be about 6% with respect to Yb3+ IR luminescence (lambda = 1.03 mum). Analysis of the crystal absorption and luminescence spectra allows one to conclude that Yb3+-Cr4+ energy transfer is a mechanism responsible for the B-3(2)(T-3(2))-B-3(1)((3)A(2)) emission of Cr4+ ions. This crystal is promising as an efficient source of the near infrared emission. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growth and characterization of new transparent conductive oxides single crystals beta-Ga2O(3): Sn

Tin oxide doped beta-Ga2O3 single crystals are recognized as transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) materials. They have a larger band gap (4.8 eV) than any other TCOs, thus can be transparent in UV region. This property shows that they have the potential to make the optoelectronic device used in even shorter wavelength than usual TCOs. beta-Ga2O3 single crystals doped with different Sn4+ concentrations were grown by the floating zone technique. Their optical properties and electrical conductivities were systematically studied. It has been found that their conductivities and optical properties were influenced by the Sn4+ concentrations and annealing. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Defects in U3+: CaF2 single crystals grown under different conditions by the temperature gradient technique

Defects in as-grown U3+ : CaF2 crystals grown with or without PbF2 as an oxygen scavenger were studied using Raman spectra, thermoluminescence glow curves, and additional absorption (AA) spectra induced by heating and gamma-irradiation. The effects of heating and irradiation on as-grown U3+: CaF2 crystals are similar, accompanied by the elimination of H-type centers and production of F-type centers. U3+ is demonstrated to act as an electron donor in the CaF2 lattice, which is oxidized to the tetravalent form by thermal activation or gamma-irradiation. In the absence of PbF(2)as an oxygen scavenger, the as-grown U3+:CaF2 crystals contain many more lattice defects in terms of both quantity and type, due to the presence of O2- impurities. Some of these defects can recombine with each other in the process of heating and gamma-irradiation. (c) 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Growth and spectral characterization of beta-Ga2O3 single crystals

Beta gallium oxide (beta-Ga2O3) single crystals were grown by the floating zone technique. The absorption spectra and the luminescence of the crystals were measured. The absorption spectra showed an intrinsic short cutoff edge around 260 nm with two shoulders at 270 and 300 nm. Not only the characteristic UV (395 nm), blue (471 nm) and green (559 nm) lights, but also the red (692 nm) light can be seen in the emission spectra. The deep UV light was attributed to the existing of quantum wells above the valence band and the red light was owed to the electron-hole recombination via the vicinity donors and acceptors. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temperature dependence of the 1.03 mu m stimulated emission cross section of Cr : Yb : YAG crystal

The fluorescence emission spectra of Cr:Yb:YAG crystal are measured and the effective stimulated emission cross section of the crystal are obtained from -80 degrees C to +80 degrees C. A linear temperature dependence between -80 degrees C and +80 degrees C is reported for the 1.03 mu m peak stimulated emission cross section of Cr:Yb:YAG crystal. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Luminescence studies of Ce : YAG using vacuum ultraviolet synchrotron radiation

Photoluminescence spectrum of Ce:YAG single crystal was studied employing vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) synchrotron radiation. Intrinsic absorption edge at about 52,000 cm(-1) was observed in the absorption spectrum. From the VUV excitation spectrum, the energy of the highest d-component of 53,191 cm(-1) (188 nm) for the Ce3+ ions in YAG was obtained at 300 K. The disappearance of the third 5d level at 37,735 cm(-1) (265 nm) in absorption and excitation spectra in our samples may be due to the impurity Fe3+ ions absorption. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nd：YAG透明陶瓷的制备与激光输出

成功制备了高质量的Nd：YAG透明陶瓷，激光测试样品的尺寸为3mm×3mm×3mm,双面抛光、未镀膜，最高连续输出能量为1003mW，斜率效率为14％．

Sol-gel combustion synthesis and luminescent properties of nanocrystalline YAG : Eu3+ phosphors

EU3+ -doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG:Eu3+) phosphors were synthesized by a facile sol-gel combustion method. In this process, citric acid traps the constituent cations and reduces the diffusion length of the precursors. YAG phase is obtained through sintering at 900 degrees C for 2h. There were no intermediate phases such as YAlO3 (YAP) and Y4Al2O9 (YAM) observed. The charge transfer band of nanocrystalline phosphors shows a shift toward the high-energy side, compared with that of amorphous ones due to lower covalency of Eu-O bond for nanocrystalline phosphors. The higher concentration quenching in YAG:EU3+ nanophosphors may be caused by the confinement effect on resonant energy transfer of nanocrystalline. It also indicates that the sol-gel combustion synthesis method provides a good distribution of Eu3+ activators in YAG host. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structural and optical properties of YAG : Ce3+ phosphors by sol-gel combustion method

High-quality Ce3+-doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG:Ce3+) phosphors were synthesized by a facile sol-gel combustion method. In this sol-gel combustion process, citric acid acts as a fuel for combustion, traps the constituent cations and reduces the diffusion length of the precursors. The XRD and FT-IR results show that YAG phase can form through sintering at 900 degrees C for 2 h. This temperature is much lower than that required to synthesize YAG phase via the solid-state reaction method. There were no intermediate phases such as YAlO3 (YAP) and Y4Al2O9 (YAM) observed in the sintering process. The average grain size of the phosphors sintered at 900-1100 degrees C is about 40 nm. With the increasing of sintering temperature, the emission intensity increases due to the improved crystalline and homogeneous distribution of Ce3+ ions. A blue shift has been observed in the Ce3+ emission spectrum of YAG:Ce3+ phosphors with increasing sintering temperatures from 900 to 1200 degrees C. It can be explained that the decrease of lattice constant affects the crystal field around Ce3+ ions. The emission intensity of 0.06Ce-doped YAG phosphors is much higher than that of the 0.04Ce and 0.02Ce ones. The red-shift at higher Ce3+ concentrations may be Ce-Ce interactions or variations in the unit cell parameters between YAG:Ce3+ and YAG. It can be concluded that the sol-gel combustion synthesis method provides a good distribution of Ce3+ activators at the molecular level in YAG matrix. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

凝胶-燃烧法合成YAG：Eu^3＋纳米荧光材料的结构和发光性能

Y3Al5O12:Eu nanophosphors were synthesized by a gel combustion method. The structure of phosphors was characterized by XRD and FTIR. YAG phase came to occur when YAG:Eu precursors were sintered at 800 ℃, although the phase was mainly amorphous. The organ