Spectroscopic studies of Yb 3+ -doped rare earth orthosilicate crystals

Infrared transmission and Raman scattering have been used to study Raman active phonons and crystal-field excitations in Yb 3+ -doped yttrium, lutetium and scandium orthosilicate crystals (Y 2 SiO 5 (YSO), Lu 2 SiO 5 (LSO) and Sc 2 SiO 5 (SSO)), which belong to the same C 2h 6 crystallographic space group. Energy levels of the Yb 3+ ion 2 F 5/2 manifold are presented. In the three hosts, Yb 3+ ions experience high crystal field strength, particularly in Yb:SSO. Satellites in the infrared transmission spectra have been detected for the first time in the Yb 3+ -doped rare earth orthosilicates. They could be attributed to perturbed Yb 3+ sites of the lattices or to magnetically coupled Yb 3+ pairs.