Spectroscopic studies of rare-earth ions in glass using fluorescence line narrowing techniques

A tunable pulsed laser is employed to selectively excite rare-earth ions in glass. The resulting line-narrowed fluorescence is used to measure the site-to-site variations in (1) crystalline Stark splitting, (2) radiative lifetime, (3) homogeneous linewidth, and (4) ion-ion energy transfer. Rare earths examined include Eu3+, Yb3+, and Nd3+ in silicate and phosphate glasses. Resonant and non-resonant excitation-fluorescence schemes and the effects of accidental coincidence of levels at different sites are discussed. (Auth.)