Photoluminescence of heavily magnesium and erbium codoped lithium niobate

Heavily magnesium and erbium codoped lithium niobate (Mg:Er:LiNbO3) has been grown by Czochralski method. The crystal exhibits strong resistance to photorefractive effect and shows characteristic luminescence of Er ion at ∼1540 nm. The transient measurement has shown a single-exponential decay of the emission with a lifetime of ∼5 ms. Green up-conversion emission at ∼550 nm has been studied at 980 nm excitation. The lifetime of the emission was derived from the transient measurement to be ∼35 μs. Analysis has shown that the excited state absorption (ESA) is the dominant contribution to the up-conversion process and clustering and pairing of Er ions have been effectively avoided in Mg:Er:LiNbO3 crystal.