OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ND3+SR-5(VO4)(3)

A spectroscopic investigation of Nd3+ in Sr5(VO 4)3F has been performed. The Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory was applied to the polarization-averaged optical-absorption spectra of Nd 3+ 4f3 transitions to determine the crystal intensity parameters: Ω2=9.14×10-20 cm2, Ω4=5.92×10-20 cm2, and Ω6=2.03×10-20 cm2. The intensity parameters were then used to determine the emission probabilities of transitions from the Nd3+ 4F3/2 metastable state to the lower lying J manifolds and their corresponding branching ratios, the radiative lifetime (248 μs), and the quantum efficiency (0.93) of the 4F3/2 state.