Luminescent VUV Spectroscopy of Er3 + and Tm3 + Ions in Strontium Fluoride Crystals

Abstract

Emission and excitation spectra as well as decay curves of Er3 + and Tm3 + ions doped into SrF2 crystals have been studied using time-resolved vacuum-ultraviolet spectroscopy under pulsed synchrotron radiation at 8 K. In emission spectrum for crystals doped with Er3 + ions together with well-known emission caused by spin-forbidden 4 f10 5 d → 4 f11 transitions (decay constant in the microsecond range), a new fast emission band detected at 146.5 nm (decay constant is less than 0.6 ns) has been revealed. It was shown that excitation spectra of f-f and d-f emission bands for Er3 + and Tm3 + ions in SrF2 have opposite behaviors in the spectral range corresponding to energy of their 4 fn - 1 5 d configurations. These peculiarities and energy transfer mechanisms were analyzed. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.