Polarized spectroscopy of Er3+ ions in YAl3(BO3)4 crystal

Er3+-doped YAL(3)(BO3)(4) (YAB) crystal has been grown by the top-seeded solution method. The Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory has been applied to analyze the polarized absorption spectra of Er3+ ions in the uniaxial crystal measured at room temperature, and the effective J-O parameters have been determined as: Omega(2) = 8.38 x 10(-20) cm(2), Omega(4) = 1.61 x 10(-21) cm(2), Omega(6) = 1.50 x 10(-20) cm(2). The parameters have been used to calculate the spontaneous emission probability and radiative lifetime of I-4(13/2) manifold for the Er3+ ions. The fluorescence lifetime of this manifold has been measured and the quantum efficiency has been estimated. The emission cross-sections for the I-4(13/2) -> I-4(15/2) transition calculated using the Fuchtbauer-Ladenburg and the reciprocity methods are compared. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.