Optical intensity analyses of Er3+:YAlO3

Analyses of the optical absorption and emission intensities are performed on Er3+ ions doped into yttrium orthoaluminate YAlO3 to assess this material as a laser source. The Judd–Ofelt model is applied to the room temperature absorption intensities of Er3+ in YAlO3 to obtain the phenomenological intensity parameters: Ω2=1.06×10−20 cm2, Ω4=1.96×10−20 cm2, and Ω6=1.40×10−20 cm2. The intensity parameters are used to determine the radiative decay rates and branching ratios of the Er3+ transitions from the upper multiplet manifolds to the corresponding lower-lying multiplet manifolds L2S+1J of Er3+ in YAlO3. Using the radiative decay rates, radiative lifetimes of 13 excited states have been determined. The room temperature fluorescence lifetime of the Er3+ S43/2→I415/2 transition is measured to be 0.43 ms. Values of emission cross section and peak emission cross section have been obtained for the Er3+ I413/2→I415/2 and S43/2→I415/2 intermanifold transitions. The detailed structure observed in the manifold-to-manifold transitions allows us to identify the Stark splitting of the individual manifolds.