Understanding Eu3+ emission spectra in glass

The emission spectra of the tripositive lanthanide ion Eu3+ have often been employed to probe its environment in the solid state, and the intensity ratio of magnetic dipole (D-5(0) -> F-7(1)) and forced electric dipole (D-5(0) -> F-7(2)) transitions has been used to estimate the `` degree of asymmetry'' of a crystal site. From the site- selective, low temperature emission spectra of Eu3+ doped into a glass, a new empirical relation has been found between the width of spectral features and the relative intensity of the D-5(0) -> F-7(0) zero phonon line. In order to explain the observations from experiments with excitation at different wavelengths, a generic quantitative relation has been developed from basic theory and validated from our experimental results. This work gives a deeper insight and understanding of the spectral characteristics of Eu3+ electronic spectra in the visible region.