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Polycrystalline Yb3+–Er3+-co-doped YAG: Fabrication, TEM-EDX characterization, spectroscopic properties, and comparison with the single crystal

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Abstract

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG)-based ceramics represent a valuable alternative to single crystals as active media in laser devices for specific applications. In this connection, the 1.5–1.65 µm emission channel of Er3+-doped YAG is of particular importance for the realization of diode pumped solid state lasers operating in the so-called ‘eye-safe’ region. A well-known drawback of this material is related to its small absorption cross section in correspondence to the diode pum** radiation at 940–980 nm. However, its emission performance can be significantly improved through sensitization with Yb3+ ions that can efficiently absorb the excitation radiation and transfer it to the Er3+ ions. This work deals with the fabrication of polycrystalline YAG co-doped with Er3+ and Yb3+ ions from oxide powders via solid state sintering in high vacuum conditions and its microstructural analysis by transmission electron microscopy–energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy to determine the dopants distribution and to assess their influence on the sintering process and on the spectroscopic properties. For this purpose, the absorption and emission spectra of the prepared material have been measured and compared with those of a single crystal having the same composition, appositely prepared by the micro-pulling down method. Suitable calculations have been finally carried out to verify the effective perspectives of application of the investigated ceramics as active lasing medium.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to thank for the support from the bilateral project SCOC (CNRS France – CNR Italy), the EC initiative “LASERLAB-EUROPE” (EC contract no. 284464) – Joint Research Activity WP33 – “European Research Objectives on Lasers for Industry, Technology and Energy (EURO-LITE)”, and the Flag project RITMARE, La Ricerca Italiana per il Mare – coordinated by CNR and funded by the Ministry of Education, University and Research within the National Research Program 2011–2013. J. Hostaša would like to acknowledge the financial support from specific university research (MSMT No. 20/2014). Centre Lyonnais de Microscopie (CLYM, www.clym.fr) and the French CNRS-CEA network METSA (FR CNRS 3507, www.metsa.fr) are gratefully acknowledged for the access to the JEOL 2010F microscope.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics, CNR ISTEC, National Research Council of Italy, Faenza, 48018, Italy

    Jan Hostaša & Laura Esposito

  2. Department of Glass and Ceramics, Institute of Chemical Technology, Prague, 166 28, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Jan Hostaša

  3. INSA of Lyon, MATEIS UMR CNRS 5510, University of Lyon, Villeurbanne, 69621, France

    Annie Malchère

  4. Institute of Applied Physics “Nello Carrara”, CNR IFAC, National Research Council of Italy, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, 10 50019, Italy

    Thierry Epicier & Angela Pirri

  5. National Institute of Optics, CNR INO, National Research Council of Italy, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, 10 50019, Italy

    Matteo Vannini & Guido Toci

  6. Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Parma, Parma, PR, 43121, Italy

    Enrico Cavalli

  7. Advanced Crystal Engineering, IMR, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan

    Akira Yoshikawa

  8. Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, PL-50-383, Poland

    Malgorzata Guzik

  9. Institute of Light and Matter (ILM), UMR5306 CNRS-University Lyon1, University of Lyon, Villeurbanne, 69622, France

    Guillaume Alombert-Goget, Yannick Guyot & Georges Boulon

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  1. Jan Hostaša
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  2. Laura Esposito
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  3. Annie Malchère
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  4. Thierry Epicier
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  8. Enrico Cavalli
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  9. Akira Yoshikawa
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  10. Malgorzata Guzik
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  11. Guillaume Alombert-Goget
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Correspondence to Jan Hostaša.

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Hostaša, J., Esposito, L., Malchère, A. et al. Polycrystalline Yb3+–Er3+-co-doped YAG: Fabrication, TEM-EDX characterization, spectroscopic properties, and comparison with the single crystal. Journal of Materials Research 29, 2288–2296 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2014.206

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