Abstract
We report on a comparative study of the spectroscopic properties and mid-infrared laser performance of five 5 at.% Er3+-doped fluorite-type crystals MF2, including parent compounds CaF2, SrF2, BaF2, and solid-solution (“mixed”) ones (Ca,Sr)F2 and (Sr,Ba)F2. In the M = Ca → Sr → Ba series, the host matrix phonon energy decreases, the absorption and mid-infrared emission spectra of Er3+ become narrower and more structured, and the luminescence lifetimes of the 4I11/2 and 4I13/2 Er3+ manifolds increase. The Er3+ transition probabilities were calculated using the Judd-Ofelt theory. In the “mixed” compounds, the Er3+ ions tend to reside in the larger / heavier cation environment. The low-temperature (12 K) spectroscopy evidences the presence of a single type of clusters at this doping level; the crystal-field splitting for Er3+ ions in clusters was determined. Continuous-wave low-threshold laser operation at ∼2.8 µm (the 4I11/2 → 4I13/2 transition) was achieved with all five Er3+:MF2 crystals. The maximum achieved laser slope efficiency was 37.9% (Er3+:CaF2), 23.5% (Er3+:SrF2) and 17.2% (Er3+:BaF2).
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