Abstract
We report on a study of intra-ion and electron transfer transitions in Cr 3+-doped LiNbO 3. The energies of the meta-stable emitting levels of Cr 3+ on both Li and the Nb sites are determined by standard optical spectroscopy techniques. Photoconductive measurements are used to determine the ionization energies of both species of Cr 3+ ions. From these results, energy level diagrams are created which give the energies of the optically active levels with respect to the host valence and conduction bands. The emitting 4T 2 level of Cr 3+ on a Li site and on a Nb site is found to lie 1.5 and 1.2 eV below the conduction band bottom, respectively. These results lead to the suggestion that the lack of laser action found in LiNbO 3:Cr 3+ may be due to strong excited state absorption transitions from the meta-stable 4T 2 level to the host conduction band.
Published Version
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