Kinetics of Er3+ Emission under Laser-thermal Excitation of Er2O3

Kinetics of emission of Er3+ ions in Er2O3 polycrystals in visible and NIR ranges was investigated under excitation by similar to 30 s and 300 ns pulses of intensive CO2 laser radiation at wavelength lambda = 10.6 mu m. A delay time of Er3+ emission pulses relative laser pulses of similar to 1.5 mu s comparable with multiphonon relaxation time of 4I13/2 states was detected and explained as the time of multiphonon excitation of the states. The delay effect is confirmed by comparison of experimental and calculated kinetics of Er2O3 emission and looks to be a base of laser-thermal method of measurement of multiphonon excitation times of vibronic states of ions in rare-earth oxides.