Erbium doped GaN (Er:GaN) is a promising candidate as a novel gain medium for solid-state high energy lasers (HELs) due to its superior physical properties over a synthetic garnet such as Nd:YAG. Er:GaN emits in the 1.5 µm region, which is retina-safe and has a high transmission in the air. We report photoluminescence (PL) studies performed on Er:GaN epilayers synthesized by the hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) technique. The room temperature PL spectra of HVPE grown Er:GaN epilayers resolved as many as 11 and seven emission lines in the 1.5 µm and 1.0 µm wavelength regions, respectively, corresponding to the intra-4f shell transitions between Stark levels from the first (⁴I_13/2) and the second (⁴I_11/2) excited states to the ground state (⁴I_15/2) of Er³⁺ in GaN. The observed peak positions of these transitions enabled the construction of the detailed energy levels in Er:GaN. The results agree well with those of the calculation based on a crystal field analysis. Precise determination of the detailed energy levels of the Stark levels in the ⁴I_11/2, ⁴I_13/2, and ⁴I_15/5 states is critically important for the realization of HELs based on Er:GaN.

中文翻译：

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氢化物气相外延生长的GaN中的energy能级

掺b GaN（Er：GaN）由于其优于诸如Nd：YAG之类的石榴石的优异物理性能，因此有望成为固态高能激光器（HEL）的新型增益介质。二：在1.5的GaN发射μ米区域，这是视网膜安全，并具有在空气中具有高透射。我们报告了通过氢化物气相外延（HVPE）技术合成的Er：GaN外延层上进行的光致发光（PL）研究。生长尔HVPE的室温PL光谱：氮化镓外延层解决多达11和在1.5 7发射线μ m和1.0 μ米的波长区域，分别从所述第一对应于斯塔克电平之间的内4F壳过渡（⁴ I _13/2）和第二个（⁴ I _11/2）激发态到GaN中Er ³⁺的基态（⁴ I _15/2）。观察到的这些跃迁的峰值位置可以构建Er：GaN中的详细能级。结果与基于晶体场分析的计算结果非常吻合。精确确定⁴ I ₁₁ / ^2，4 I _13/2和⁴ I _15/5状态下Stark能级的详细能级对于实现基于Er：GaN的_HEL至关重要。