Novel materials for laser refrigeration
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
The status of optical refrigeration of rare-earth-doped solids is reviewed, and the various factors that limit the performance of current laser-cooling materials are discussed. Efficient optical refrigeration is possible in materials for which {Dirac_h}{omega}{sub max} < E{sub p}/8, where {Dirac_h}{omega}{sub max} is the maximum phonon energy of the host material and E{sub p} is the pump energy of the rare-earth dopant. Transition-metal and OH{sup -}impurities at levels >100 ppb are believed to be the main factors for the limited laser-cooling performance in current materials. The many components of doped ZBLAN glass pose particular processing challenges. Binary fluoride glasses such as YF{sub 3}-LiF are considered as alternatives to ZBLAN. The crystalline system KPb{sub 2}CI{sub 5} :Dy{sup 3+} is identified as a prime candidate for high-efficiency laser cooling.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 956406
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-09-00824; LA-UR-09-824; TRN: US201013%%147
- Journal Information:
- Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Vol. 7228; ISSN 0277-786X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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