Fluorescense line-narrowing studies of Nd: glass laser materials

Technical Report · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:5148501

Riseberg, L A; Brecher, C

From a detailed study of Nd/sup 3 +/ in five different glassy hosts, it was found that even in the absence of specific spectral detail (as in the case of Eu/sup 3 +/), the excitation-dependent patterns of quantum efficiency and radiative and nonradiative transition rates can be powerful tools in characterizing the glass medium. In the case of the fluorophosphate glass, these measurements led to the first experimental evidence for the existence of chemically distinct coordinating species in a mixed anion glass. In view of the strong interest in the fluorophosphates for use in the Nova program, work on this type of glass should be continued. Particular attention should be given to studies on Eu/sup 3 +/-doped mixed anion glasses, since with appropriate compositional variations it may be possible to observe directly the change from a largely oxide to a largely fluoride environment. Particular effort should also be directed toward a correlation of the results of the Nd/sup 3 +/ and Eu/sup 3 +/ measurements. The second- and fourth-order crystal field parameters (and the structural model derived from them) obtained from Eu/sup 3 +/-doped glass would be used to calculate the corresponding values for Nd/sup 3 +/ in the same glassy medium, and thus (hopefully) give a correlation between the structure of the coordinating species and the energy kinetics associated with it. This is more likely to be successful in the fluoroberyllate than in any of the others, and this material should be given first attention. Finally, on a lower priority, attention should be given to other systems, particularly the pure BeF/sub 2/ material, mentioned earlier, and its oxide counterpart, SiO/sub 2/. Although these are chemically the simplest of common glasses, their spectroscopy is far more complex than previously believed, and work on these systems may be uniquely informative on the effects of compensating cations.

• Research Organization: GTE Labs., Inc., Waltham, Mass. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5148501
• Report Number(s): UCRL-13823
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420300* -- Engineering-- Lasers-- (-1989)
FLUORESCENCE
GLASS
LASERS
LINE NARROWING
LUMINESCENCE
NEODYMIUM LASERS
SOLID STATE LASERS