Ion fluence-dependent luminescence of the Yb2+ centre in an undoped YAG single crystal

Abstract

In this work, the ion beam-induced luminescence of Yb2+ with the 4f136s ground state in an undoped YAG single crystal was studied. The 4f135d(2F7/2eg) → 4f136s transition of Yb2+ in the form of Re-F centres exhibits seven iconic narrow emission bands in the 590–720 nm range. The comparison of experimental data suggests that the IBIL spectrum is superior tothe RL spectrum in characterizing the trace rare earth element Yb2+. A decrease in the Yb2+ luminescence intensity was observed under increasing ion fluence, which can be effectively described by a single exponential model. The probable explanations for the luminescence decay behaviour of Yb2+ with increasing fluence were discussed based on SRIM simulation data and the evolution of the peak parameters with fluence, which was a powerful supplement to previous research. Even when the ion fluence reaches 1014 cm−2, the luminescence intensities of the seven Yb2+ luminescence peaks in the YAG single crystal are still more than 60% of the initial luminescence intensity, showing that the Yb2+:4f135d(2F7/2eg) → 4f136s transition has good radiation resistance.