1.5 μm emission characteristics of Er3+-doped stoichiometric LiNbO3

The 1.5 mum emission characteristics of stoichiometric LiNbO3 crystals with different Er3+ doping levels of 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mol % were investigated. All of the emission decays could be fitted by a single exponential curve. The lifetimes of the 1.5 mum transition (I-4(13/2)-->I-4(15/2)) were measured to be 3.0-3.2 ms, which are about 25% longer than those reported for conventional Er-doped congruent LiNbO3. Our analysis showed that the longer lifetime in stoichiometric LiNbO3 is likely to originate from the reduced density of intrinsic defects. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.