Spectroscopic properties of Yb-doped CaF2–YF3 solid-solution laser crystal

Abstract

The spectroscopic properties of Yb:CaF2–YF3 disordered crystals obtained by the vertical Bridgman method were studied. The 3 at.% Yb, 3 at.% Y:CaF2 crystal absorption cross section σabs centered at 974 nm reached 7.2 × 10−21 cm2 and the fluorescence lifetime was 3.54 ms at room temperature. Experimental results show that co-doping Y3+ ions at different Y:Yb ratios can modulate the spectroscopy and lengthen the luminescence lifetime of Yb3+ ions in the CaF2 lattice. There are three main kinds of lattice in the 3 at.% Yb, 3 at.% Y:CaF2 crystal, as concluded from the low-temperature spectra.