Spectroscopic and magneto-optical characteristics of erbium doped cerium trifluoride crystal grown by the Bridgman method

Abstract

In this study, a 2 at% erbium doped cerium trifluoride (Er:CeF3) single crystal was grown using the Bridgman method. The consequent absorption, infrared transmittance, and fluorescence spectra were recorded. The spectroscopic properties of Er:CeF3 crystals were intensively studied based on the Judd–Ofelt (J–O) theory. The Ω2, Ω4, and Ω6 parameters were fitted to be 5.206 × 10−20, 1.805 × 10−20, and 3.06 × 10−20 cm2, respectively. The emission cross-section centered at 1564.6 nm was calculated to be 1.053 × 10−20 cm2, and the corresponding fluorescence lifetime was measured to be 1.675 ms. Additionally, the magneto-optical (MO) performance of the Er:CeF3 crystal was investigated for the first time. The Verdet constants of Er:CeF3 at 532, 632.8, 1064, and 1310 nm are 231.0, 165.4, 43.4, and 24.4 rad·T−1·m−1, respectively, which are significantly higher than those of pure CeF3 and traditional Tb3Ga5O12. The results show that the Er:CeF3 crystal can be applied both to solid-state lasers and Faraday devices.