Spectroscopic properties of Chromium doped Sc2O3 ceramics

Laser materials able to give efficient tunable or ultrashort-pulse emission in near infrared under direct lamp or diode laser pumping are in high demand as substitutes for Ti:sapphire. Materials activated with Cr³⁺ in sites of weak crystal field (c.f.) that leaves the ⁴T₂ rarr level below ²E level could posses such qualities since ⁴T₂ rarr ⁴A₂ broad band emission can have fairly long lifetime (60-100 musec). This paper investigates the spectroscopic properties of transparent Sc₂O₃ doped with Cr (up to 0.5%) produced by ceramic techniques using solid-state synthesis. The room temperature absorption spectrum contains strong unresolved bands in UV, a broad band in blue-green peaking at ~ 480 nm and a double peaked (740 nm and 920 nm) broad band.