Effect of optical properties of Er2O3 doped stoichiometric LiNbO3 single crystals and co-doped with MgO

Undoped stoichiometric LiNbO3 (SLN), Er2O3 (0.5 mol%) doped stoichiometric LiNbO3 (Er:SLN) and MgO (1.0 mol%)–Er2O3 (0.5 mol%) doped stoichiometric LiNbO3 (Mg:Er:SLN) single crystals of 15–20 mm in diameter and 25–30 mm in length were grown by Czochralski method along the c-axis. We investigated in the UV-Vis– NIR range to study the effect of MgO and Er2O3 in the SLN host. Also, we investigated the photoluminescence (PL) properties of SLN, Er:SLN and Mg:Er:SLN. Excitation spectra for the emission from the 4S3/2 and 4I11/2 states in both single crystals have been studied in the range 500–700 and 1400–1700 nm. The OH− absorption band of the single crystals was investigated in the infrared by using an Fourier infrared (FT-IR) spectrophotometer at room temperature.