Irradiation behavior of ytterbium-doped calcium fluoride crystals and ceramics

• Published in: Inorganic materials Vol. 52; no. 8; pp. 842 - 850
• Main Authors: Ashurov, M. Kh, Boibobeva, S. T., Nuritdinov, I., Garibin, E. A., Demidenko, A. A., Kuznetsov, S. V., Fedorov, P. P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.08.2016
• Subjects: Calcium fluoride; Ceramics; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystal defects; Defect annealing; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Inorganic Chemistry; Irradiation; Lasers; Materials Science; Single crystals; Spectra; gamma rays; radiation resistance; laser ceramics; spectral characteristics; defects
• ISSN: 0020-1685; 1608-3172
• DOI: 10.1134/S0020168516080033

We have studied the radiation resistance of CaF 2 :Yb 3+ (3 mol % YbF 3 ) laser ceramics and a single crystal of similar composition (3.6 mol % YbF 3 ) exposed to gamma rays in a 60 Co source. The unirradiated samples have been shown to be similar in spectral characteristics. Even though irradiation leads to identical valence changes, Yb 3+ ↔Yb 2+ , in the single crystals and ceramics, it produces characteristic defect centers in the ceramic samples, which are responsible for the observed marked differences in the rate of valence changes and the annealing rate of radiation-induced defects.