Synthesis and spectroscopic properties of neodymium doped lead chloride

The crystal growth and infrared spectroscopic properties of Nd doped lead chloride (Nd:PbCl2) are reported. Lead halide based materials have recently emerged as laser hosts with low maximum phonon energies. In this work, Nd:PbCl2 crystals were grown by a self-seeded Bridgman technique. Following optical pumping at 750 and 808 nm, Nd:PbCl2 exhibited several infrared (IR) emission lines between 800 and 1600 nm as well as a broad mid-IR band centered at similar to 5.19 mu m. It was found that for Nd3+ concentrations larger than similar to 1x10(19) cm(-3), the mid-IR emission is predominantly due to the transition I-4(11/2)-> I-4(9/2). From a Judd-Ofelt analysis, the radiative quantum efficiency of the 5.19 mu m emission was determined to be similar to 27%. The multiphonon decay rates of several closely spaced Nd3+ transitions were modeled using the well known energy-gap law and the host dependent parameters B and beta were determined to be 9.5x10(9) s(-1) and 1.26x10(-2) cm, respectively. The obtained energy-gap law parameters were subsequently used to describe the temperature dependence of the 5.19 mu m mid-IR emission lifetime for a range from 77 to 450 K. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.