Systematic control of spectral hole burning and homogeneous linewidth by disorder in Y2O3:Pr3+ crystalline systems

Abstract

We investigated the hole-burning phenomena and homogeneous linewidth in ${\mathrm{Pr}}^{3+}$-doped ${\mathrm{Y}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3$-based crystals under the systematic control of disorder in the crystal. When divalent ions are doped into an ${\mathrm{Y}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3{:\mathrm{P}\mathrm{r}}^{3+}$ crystal, holes due to rearrangement of local structure around ${\mathrm{Pr}}^{3+}$ ions are burned. The burning curves are successfully analyzed in terms of a distributed tunneling rate model for hole formation. The burning efficiency from this analysis and the homogeneous linewidth become larger as the crystal includes a larger amount of divalent ions. The interaction of ${\mathrm{Pr}}^{3+}$ ions with oxygen vacancies is thought to be one of the origins of the hole production and the line broadening. The interaction length between ${\mathrm{Pr}}^{3+}$ ions and oxygen vacancies is discussed.