A non-destructive determination of the rare-earth ion concentration in laser crystals

• Published in: Crystal engineering Vol. 5; no. 3; pp. 307 - 315
• Main Authors: Kobe, S, Podmiljšak, B, McGuiness, P.J, Sarantopoulou, E, Kollia, Z, Vourdas, A, Cefalas, A.C
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2002; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: 4f5d configuration; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Defects and impurities in crystals; microstructure; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Impurities: concentration, distribution, and gradients; Impurity concentration, distribution, and gradients; Laser induced fluorescence; Laser materials; Materials science; Materials testing; Nondestructive testing: optical methods; Optical materials; Optics; Physics; Rare-earth ion; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Vibrating sample magnetometer; VUV; 4f5d configuration; Rare-earth ion; VUV; Vibrating sample magnetometer; Laser induced fluorescence; Fluorescence spectroscopy; Vacuum ultraviolet spectrometry; Inorganic compounds; Doping; Laser materials; Calcium fluorides; Yttrium fluorides; Optical method; Potassium fluorides; Impurity density; Dielectric materials; Strontium fluorides; Magnetic moments; Measuring methods; Thulium additions; Experimental study; Non destructive method; Barium fluorides; Praseodymium additions; Optical materials; Erbium additions
• ISSN: 1463-0184
• DOI: 10.1016/S1463-0184(02)00042-4

The efficiency of the laser crystals doped with trivalent rare-earth (RE) ions depends on the degree of the homogeneous distribution of the concentration of the RE ion in the crystal volume. In this communication, and as a first contribution to the subject, the concentration of the Pr 3+, Er 3+ and Tm 3+ ions in BaF 2, SrF 2, CaF 2 and KY 3F 10 wide band-gap dielectric crystal hosts was determined by measuring the magnetic moment of the ions, using the vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) method, for the first time to our knowledge. With this experimental method concentration of the RE ions could be determined within 0.1% accuracy in a non-destructive way. In addition, by applying laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy in the vacuum ultraviolet region of the spectrum (100–200 nm), the magnetic properties of the 4f n −15d electronic configurations can be predicted from the optical spectra for electronic states lying 8 eV above the ground electronic state of the 4f n electronic configuration.