Structural and optical properties of europium doped zirconia single crystals fibers grown by laser floating zone

摘要

Yttria stabilized zirconia single crystal fibers doped with europium ions were developed envisaging optical applications. The laser floating zone technique was used in order to grow millimetric high quality single crystal fibers. The as-grown fibers are completely transparent and inclusion free, exhibiting a cubic structure. Under ultraviolet (UV) excitation, a broad emission band appears at 551 nm. The europium doped fibers are translucent with a tetragonal structure and exhibit an intense red emission at room temperature under UV excitation. The fingerprint transition lines between the ~5D_0 and ~7F_(J(0-4)) multiplets of the Eu~(3+) ions are observed with the main emission line at ～606 nm due to~ 5D_0→~7F_2 transition. Photoluminescence excitation and wavelength dependent the photoluminescence spectra confirm the existence of different Eu~(3+) optical centers.