RESEARCH ON RARE EARTH FLUORIDE MATERIALS

摘要

The work reported here is directed toward the selection of those high quality rare earth fluoride materials which indicate the most promising host and dopant combinations, with optimum dopant concen-trations, for laser applications.nRare earth materials purified by ion exchange indicated a significant improvement in crystal quality. Single crystals of LaF doped with Tb , Tm , Yb , and Ce , in addition to two new hosts — DyF3 and CeF3, were grown for spectroscopic evaluation. DyF3, will be further investigated as a host sensitizer for Pr . Samples of CeF3 :Nd were prepared for laser testing. Crystals of Er and Er-Ce doped LaF, were prepared for further study of the quenching of Er by Ce ; this quenching may be accounted for by ion pair interaction.nTheoretical considerations of cross relaxation in double-doped systems are discussed.