Optical Dephasing, Hyperfine Structure, and Hyperfine Relaxation Associated with the 580.8-nm 7F(0)5D(0) Transition of Europium in Eu3(+):Y2O3.

摘要

Rare-earth atoms doped into various hosts are known to exhibit very sharp optical lines-especially at cryogenic temperatures. In this context, the F0- D0 transition of the europium in Eu:Y2O3 stands out because of its kilohertz-scale homogeneous linewidth for temperatures in the range of 1 K. In the present paper, we present measurements of the homogeneous linewidth of this transition as a function of temperature. We also present measurements of effective population thermalization rates of the F0 ground-state hyperfine sublevels as a function of temperature. Finally, we have measured the hyperfine splittings of both terminal levels of the transition. The narrowness of the optical transition and the stability of the hyperfine populations at relatively high temperatures make the F0-D0 transition of Eu:Y2O3 interesting from the prospective of advanced frequency-selective optical memories. Reprints. (jes)