Temperature and concentration dependence of optical dephasing, spectral-hole lifetime, and anisotropic absorption in Eu3+:Y2SiO5 -: art. no. 085109

Detailed site-selective spectroscopy has been performed as a function of temperature on the F-7(0)<---->D-5(0) transition of Eu3+:Y2SiO5 for Eu3+ concentrations of 0.02%, 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1%. Time-domain optical dephasing, spectral hole lifetimes, anisotropic absorption coefficients, inhomogeneous linewidths, and fluorescence lifetimes for Eu3+ ions at both crystallographic sites were measured. The temperature dependence of the optical dephasing, transition energy, and linewidth of the F-7(0)-->D-5(0) absorption was measured and interpreted in terms of Raman scattering of phonons. Photon echo measurements of optical dephasing gave T-2 values as long as 2.6 ms, approaching the limit set by the fluorescence decay time. Spectral hole lifetimes were measured for temperatures from 2 K to 18 K, with observed lifetimes varying from 1 s at 18 K to an estimated value of greater than 20 days at 2 K. Anisotropic absorption coefficients were measured, and an increase in Eu3+ concentration from 0.02% to 7% produced an increase in the inhomogeneous linewidth Gamma(inh) from 0.5 GHz to similar to150 GHz, indicating that Eu3+ doping induces significant strain in the crystal. New determinations of many energy levels of F-7(J) multiplets have been made for J=0 to 6.