Effects of annealing on the color, absorption spectra, and light yield of Ce : YAlO3 single crystal grown by the temperature gradient technique

YAlO3 single crystal doped with Ce3+ at concentration 1% was grown by the temperature gradient technique. The as-grown crystal was pink. After H-2 annealing or air annealing at 1400degreesC for 20 h, the crystal was turned into colorless. We concluded there were two kinds of color centers in the as-grown crystal. One is F+ center attributed to absorption band peaking at about 530 nm, the other is O- center attributed to absorption band peaking at about 390 nm. This color centers model can be applied in explaining the experiment phenomena including the color changes, the absorption spectra changes, and the light yield changes of Ce:YAP crystals before and after annealing. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

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.

Efficient diode-pumped Yb : Gd2SiO5 laser

An efficient diode-pumped laser was demonstrated by using an ytterbium-doped laser crystal, Yb:Gd2SiO5 (Yb:GSO), wherein Yb3+ ions exhibit the largest ground-state splitting among all the ytterbium-doped crystals. The Yb:GSO laser can be operated at a low pumping threshold, and the most efficient laser occurs around 1088 nm since the corresponding emission band has the largest emission cross section and the lowest thermal population. A slope efficiency of 75% was demonstrated for a continuous-wave Yb:GSO laser at 1094 nm, and self-pulsed lasers were achieved within the tunable range of 1091-1105 nm, which are the longest laser wavelengths achieved for Yb3+ lasers. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

A new Yb-doped oxyorthosilicate laser crystal: Yb : Gd2SiO5

A new Yb-doped oxyorthosilicate laser crystal, Yb:Gd2SiO5 (Yb:GSO), has been grown by the Czochralski (Cz) method. The crystal structure was determined by means of X-ray diffraction analysis. Room temperature absorption and fluorescence spectra of Yb3+ ions in GSO crystal were measured. Then. spectroscopic parameters of Yb:GSO were calculated and compared with those of another Yb-doped oxyorthosilicate crystal Yb:YSO. Results indicated that Yb:GSO crystal seemed to be a very promising laser gain media in generating ultra-pulses and tunable solid state laser applications. As expected, the output power of 2.72 W at 1089 nm was achieved in Yb:GSO crystal with absorbed power of only 4.22 W at 976 nm, corresponding to the slope efficiency of 71.2% through the preliminary laser experiment. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

γ-辐照对纯Y2SiO5和Eu^3＋：Y2SiO5晶体光谱性能的影响

研究了γ-辐照前后纯Y2SiO5和Eu^3＋掺杂的Y2SiO5晶体吸收光谱的变化，辐照后，未退火和氢气退火的纯Y2SiO5晶体在260-270nm和320nm波段产生了附加吸收峰，分别是由F心和O^-心的吸收引起的；经过空气退火的纯YSO晶体中，由于消除了氧空位，因此辐照后没有出现色心吸收峰。在Eu^3＋；Y2SiO5晶体中，不但有相同的F心和O心吸收峰，而且还有Eu^2＋离子在300nm和390nm的吸收峰。随着辐照剂量的增加，色心附加吸收峰增强。空气退火能减少Eu^3＋：Y2SiO5晶体中的色心，而氢

Broadband infrared luminescence of bismuth-doped borosilicate glasses

We prepare bismuth-doped borosilicate glasses and the luminescence properties in infrared wavelength region are investigated. Transmission spectrum, fluorescence spectrum and fluorescence decay curve are measured. The glasses exhibit a broad infrared luminescence peaking at 1340nm with the full width at half maximum of about 205nm, and lifetime of 273 mu s when excited by an 808-nm laser diode. The glasses are promising materials for broadband optical amplifiers and tunable lasers.

Nd3+ doped silicate glass photonic crystal fibres

We report on the fabrication of two kinds of large core area Nd3+ doped silicate glass photonic crystal fibres, and demonstration of the fibre waveguiding properties. The measured minimum loss of one kind of fibres is 2.5 db/m at 660nm. The fibres sustain only a single mode at least over the wavelength range from 660nm to 980nm.

Infrared broadband emission of bismuth-doped barium-aluminum-borate glasses

We report near infrared broadband emission of bismuth-doped barium-aluminum-borate glasses. The broadband emission covers 1.3 mum window in optical telecommunication systems. And it possesses wide full width at half maximum (FWHM) of similar to 200nm and long lifetime as long as 350 mus. The luminescent properties are quite sensitive to glass compositions and excitation wavelengths. Based on energy matching conditions, we suggest that the infrared emission may be ascribed to P-3(1) --> P-3(0) transition of Bi+. The broad infrared emission characteristics of this material indicate that it might be a promising candidate for broadband optical fiber amplifiers and tunable lasers. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Temperature dependence of femtosecond laser induced refractive index change in Nd3+-doped phosphate glass

We report refractive index change in a femtosecond laser irradiated Nd3+-doped phosphate glass. The effects of annealing temperature on the refractive index change of the glass have been investigated. Absorption spectra of the glass sample before and after femtosecond laser irradiation and subsequent annealing were measured. The results indicate that multiphoton absorption can undertake although there are intrinsic absorption for the glass in irradiation wavelength. The results may be useful for fabrication of three-dimensional integrated optics devices and waveguide laser devices in this glass. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Near infrared broadband emission of bismuth-doped aluminophosphate glass

Near infrared broadband emission characteristics of bismuth-doped aluminophosphate glass have been investigated. Broad infrared emissions peaking at 1210nm, 1173nm and 1300nm were observed when the glass was pumped by 405nm laser diode (LD), 514nm Ar+ laser and 808nm LD, respectively. The full widths at half maximum (FWHMs) are 235nm, 207nm and 300nm for the emissions at 1210nm, 1173nm and 1300nm, respectively. Based on the energy matching conditions, it is suggested that the infrared emission may be ascribed to P-3(1) --> P-3(0) transition of Bi+. The broadband infrared luminescent characteristics of the glasses indicate that they are promising for broadband optical fiber amplifiers and tunable lasers. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Investigation of optical properties of Ce3+-doped Gd2SiO5 crystal irradiated by a femtosecond laser

We report on the optical property changes for Ce3+-doped Gd2SiO5 crystal irradiated by a femtosecond (fs) laser. Absorption spectra showed that Ce-related color centers were formed in this crystal after an 800 nm fs laser irradiation. The annealing temperature-dependence of the refractive index and absorption intensity changes have been investigated. Furthermore, a new way of writing overlapped gratings inside the crystal by use of birefringence of fs laser beam in this crystal was proposed. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Yb：YAG晶体的红外闪烁特性

用脉冲电子束激发测量了不同Yb^3+掺杂浓度的Yb：YAG晶体的红外(IR)闪烁发光性能。Yb：YAG晶体的IR闪烁发光具有高的光产额和长的衰减时间，但存在浓度猝灭效应和温度依赖关系。Yb：YAG晶体的IR闪烁性能还与晶体品质有关，相同掺杂浓度的Yb：YAG晶体，品质优异的会获得更高的光产额。这一初步的研究成果表明，部分掺Yb^3+晶体有可能用于医学成像装置。

Broadband infrared luminescence from Li2O-Al2O3-ZnO-SiO2 glasses doped with Bi2O3

The broadband emission in the 1.2 similar to 1.6 mu m region from Li2O-Al2O3-ZnO-SiO2 ( LAZS) glass codoped with 0.01mol.% Cr2O3 and 1.0mol.% Bi2O3 when pumped by the 808nm laser at room temperature is not initiated from Cr4+ ions, but from bismuth, which is remarkably different from the results reported by Batchelor et al. The broad similar to 1300nm emission from Bi2O3-containing LAZS glasses possesses a FWHM ( Full Width at Half Maximum) more than 250nm and a fluorescent lifetime longer than 500 mu s when excited by the 808nm laser. These glasses might have the potential applications in the broadly tunable lasers and the broadband fiber amplifiers. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Comparison of cerium-doped Lu2Si2O7 and Lu2SiO5 scintillators

In this paper, high optical quality cerium-doped lutetium pyrosilicate(LPS:Ce) crystal has been grown by Czochralski method with the seed oriented along cleavage plane (1 1 0). The structure, segregation coefficient of Ce3+ and optical characterization of LPS:Ce crystal have been compared with those of LSO:Ce crystal. The results show that LPS:Ce has the advantage over LSO:Ce by having a larger segregation coefficient of Ce3+, lower cost of starting material, lower melting point and only one luminescence mechanism. Thus, LPS:Ce crystal offers an attractive alternative to LSO:Ce for scintillator applications. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Yb掺杂的YAlO<3/sub>单晶体的温梯法生长和光谱性能

The dark-brown colored 5 at% Yb-doped YAlO3 (Yb:YAP) single crystal was grown successfully by temperature gradient technique (TGT) for the first time. The TGT-grown Yb:YAP crystal with the perovskite structure and excellent crystallization perfection were confirmed by the X-ray diffractions techniques. The dark-brown color of TGT-Yb:YAP crystal turned into the colorless after annealing in the air at 1200 degrees C for 10h. The absorption spectra, LD-excited infrared emission and X-ray excited luminescence spectra of the air-annealed Yb:YAP single crystal were investigated at the room temperature. The results indicate that the TGT-Yb:YAP single crystals can be used for the laser and scintillation applications. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.