The Role of Er<sup>3+</sup> Content in the Luminescence Properties of Y<sub>3</sub>Al<sub>5</sub>O<sub>12</sub> Single Crystals: Incorporation into the Lattice and Defect State Creation
Maksym Buryi,
Amayès Médhi Gaston-Bellegarde,
Jan Pejchal,
Fedor Levchenko,
Zdeněk Remeš,
Katarína Ridzoňová,
Vladimir Babin,
Sergii Chertopalov
Affiliations
Maksym Buryi
FZU—Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Amayès Médhi Gaston-Bellegarde
FZU—Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Jan Pejchal
FZU—Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Fedor Levchenko
FZU—Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Zdeněk Remeš
FZU—Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Katarína Ridzoňová
FZU—Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Vladimir Babin
FZU—Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Sergii Chertopalov
FZU—Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 1999/2, 182 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Erbium-doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG) single crystals grown using the micro-pulling-down technique were investigated. Three Er concentrations were chosen: 0.1, 0.3 and 1 at%. Er3+ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra were measured in the ground and first excited states. The corresponding g tensors and 167Er hyperfine interaction were changing upon Er content indicating moderation of the Er-O bond length and/or Er local surrounding. Photoluminescence (PL) and radioluminescence (RL) spectra were complex, consisting of strongly overlapped typical Er3+ transitions. In addition, there were other broad PL band (3.1 eV) and RL band (3.95 eV) attributed to the F+ center and yttrium substituting for aluminum (YAl), respectively. The X-ray excited decay kinetics exhibited a decrease of the decay time of the YAl from hundreds of nanoseconds to nanoseconds upon Er doping level. This is discussed and explained considering EPR data.
