Luminescence characteristics of ultraviolet upconversion from Er ^{3 +}:YAG crystal by Ar ⁺ laser (488 nm) excitation

Abstract:

Ultraviolet and violet upconversion signals at 271 nm, 317 nm, 381 nm and 407 nm were observed when an erbium-doped YAG crystal was pumped by an Ar⁺ laser (488 nm). The dependence of intensity of luminescence emitting from the ⁴S _3/2 state and the ²P _3/2 state on pump power (I) was experimentally investigated. Changes from I¹ down to I ^1/2 for the ⁴S _3/2 state and from I² down to I¹ for the ²P _3/2 state were observed. The upconversion mechanism was discussed by means of the rate equations. It appears that energy-transfer upconversion (ETU) is a dominant process for the Er³⁺:YAG crystal used in our experiment.