Abstract Tm3+: Y3Al5O12 (Tm:YAG) crystal is a promising material for high-resolution spectral analysis of broadband radio-frequency (RF) signals, where the absorption spectrum is modified via spectral hole burning. In Tm:YAG, the efficiency of the spectral tailoring is limited by the long-lived metastable level 3F4, acting as a bottleneck for the optical pumping mechanism. We demonstrate that co-doping Tm:YAG with Eu3+ ions can significantly shorten the optical lifetime of 3F4 state, while that of 3H4 is essentially conserved. We show with a model that these modified lifetimes allow faster tailoring of the absorption profile. Because of their low cost and easiness of processing, we use Tm3+ and Eu3+ co-doped Y3Al5O12 ceramics to probe the energy transfer efficiency and find the optimal cation co-doping concentration. Furthermore, we show that Eu3+ co-doping increases the inhomogeneous broadening on the Tm3+ optical transition, hence the spectral analysis bandwidth. Finally, we confirm these results on a single crystal grown by the Czochralski method.

中文翻译：

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通过 Eu3+ 共掺杂为信号处理应用定制 Tm3+: Y3Al5O12 中的 3F4 能级寿命

摘要 Tm3+: Y3Al5O12 (Tm:YAG) 晶体是一种很有前途的宽带射频 (RF) 信号高分辨率光谱分析材料，其吸收光谱通过光谱烧孔进行修改。在 Tm:YAG 中，光谱裁剪的效率受到长寿命亚稳态 3F4 的限制，这是光泵浦机制的瓶颈。我们证明了用 Eu3+ 离子共掺杂 Tm:YAG 可以显着缩短 3F4 状态的光学寿命，而 3H4 的光学寿命基本上是守恒的。我们用一个模型展示了这些修改后的寿命允许更快地定制吸收曲线。由于成本低且易于加工，我们使用 Tm3+ 和 Eu3+ 共掺杂 Y3Al5O12 陶瓷来探测能量转移效率并找到最佳的阳离子共掺杂浓度。此外，我们表明 Eu3+ 共掺杂增加了 Tm3+ 光学跃迁的非均匀展宽，从而增加了光谱分析带宽。最后，我们在通过 Czochralski 方法生长的单晶上确认了这些结果。