Title :
Spectroscopic and stimulated emission characteristics of Nd/sup 3+/ in transparent Y/sub 2/O/sub 3/ ceramics
Author :
Kumar, G.A. ; Lu, Jianren ; Kaminskii, Alexander A. ; Ueda, Ken-ichi ; Yagi, Hideki ; Yanagitani, Takakimi
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mater. Sci. & Eng., State Univ. of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ
fDate :
7/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Nd:Y2O3 ceramic materials have been synthesized using the vacuum sintering technique with the raw materials prepared by the nanocrystalline methods. The TEM measurements reveal the excellent optical quality of the ceramic with low pore volume and narrow grain boundary. The radiative spectral properties of Nd:Y2O 3 ceramic have been evaluated by fitting the Judd-Ofelt model with the absorption and emission data. Individual Stark levels for 2s+1LJ manifolds are obtained from the absorption and fluorescence spectra and are analyzed to identify the stimulated emission channels possible in the Nd:Y2O3 ceramic. Laser performance studies reveal two stimulated emission channels at 1074.6- and 1078.6-nm wavelengths with stimulated emission cross sections of 7.63times10-20 and 6.35times10-20 cm2. With 1.5 at % Nd:Y2O3 ceramic acting as a laser medium, we obtained a slope efficiency of 32% with 160-mW output power and pump threshold of 200 mW at 1078.6 nm
Keywords :
Judd-Ofelt theory; Stark effect; ceramics; fluorescence; grain boundaries; neodymium; optical materials; optical pumping; porosity; porous materials; sintering; solid lasers; stimulated emission; transmission electron microscopy; transparency; yttrium compounds; 1074.6 nm; 1078.6 nm; 160 mW; 200 mW; Judd-Ofelt model; Nd3+ emission; Stark levels; TEM measurements; Y2O3 ceramics; Y2O3:Nd; absorption spectra; fluorescence; grain boundary; laser performance; nanocrystalline methods; optical pumping; optical quality; pore volume; radiative spectral properties; spectroscopic emission; stimulated emission; stimulated emission channels; transparent ceramics; vacuum sintering; Absorption; Ceramics; Neodymium; Optical materials; Optical pumping; Raw materials; Spectroscopy; Stimulated emission; Vacuum technology; Volume measurement; Cavity loss; Nd:Y; emission cross section; laser oscillation; quantum efficiency; transparent ceramic;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JQE.2006.875868
