Optical properties of rare earths

This volume of the Handbook illustrates the rich variety of topics covered by rare earth science. Three chapters are devoted to the description of solid state compounds skutteru-dites (Chapter 211), rare earth-antimony systems (Chapter 212), and rare earth-manganese perovskites (Chapter 214). Two other reviews deal with solid state properties one contribution includes information on existing thermodynamic data of lanthanide trihalides (Chapter 213) while the other one describes optical properties of rare earth compounds under pressure (Chapter 217). Finally, two chapters focus on solution chemistry. The state of the art in unraveling solution structure of lanthanide-containing coordination compounds by paramagnetic nuclear magnetic resonance is outlined in Chapter 215. The potential of time-resolved, laser-induced emission spectroscopy for the analysis of lanthanide and actinide solutions is presented and critically discussed in Chapter 216. 

Active optical properties of rare-earth-doped fluoride glasses... 

Rare earth silicates exhibit potential applications as stable luminescent materials for phosphors, scintillators, and detectors. Silica and silicon substrates are frequently used for thin films fabrication, and their nanostructures including monodisperse sphere, NWs are also reliable templates and substrates. However, the composition, structure, and phase of rare earth silicates are rather complex, for example, there are many phases like silicate R2SiOs, disilicate R2Si207 (A-type, tetragonal), hexagonal Rx(Si04)602 oxyapatite, etc. The controlled synthesis of single-phase rare earth silicate nanomateriais can only be reached with precisely controlled experimental conditions. A number of heat treatment based routes, such as solid state reaction of rare earth oxides with silica/silicon substrate, sol-gel methods, and combustion method, as well as physical routes like pulsed laser ablation, have been applied to prepare various rare earth silicate powders and films. The optical properties of rare earth silicate nanocrystalline films and powders have been studied. 

Rare earth aluminates are also important commercially as ceramics and ceramic composites for scintillation applications. The importance of the optical properties of rare earth aluminates is underscored by the used of Nd-doped YAG as a laser host. 

The optical properties of rare-earth doped yttrium oxide and other rare-earth oxides have been studied extensively for several years, since the oxides are excellent laser host materials. Laser action of EurYjOs has been observed at 0.6113/xm (Chang, 1963) Nd Y203 has also been studied as a laser crystal (Hoskins and Softer, 1964 Holloway et al., 1%6). Recently, a Nd tYjOs crystal was used as a room-temperature frequency converter laser output was observed at 1.07 /Lim and at 1.31 /i,m when the crystal was pumped by a Kr c.w. laser (Stone and Burrus, 1978). The possibility of an X-ray pumped laser using various rare-earth ions in Y2O3 has also been discussed (Ratinen, 1971). Other applications of Y2O3 such as thermionic emission (Kul varskaya, 1976) and electroluminescence (Tanaka et al., 1976) have also been described. 

Reisfeld, R., 1987, Optical properties of rare earths and transition metal ions in fluoride glasses, in Halide Glasses for Infrared Fiberoptics, ed. R.M. Almeida (Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht) pp. 237-251. 

Optical properties of rare-earth doped YAG ceramics are important requirements for practical applications, which has been a subject of numerous studied in the literature [170-176]. For example, thermal annealing had a strong effect on optical properties of Cr-doped YAG ceramics [170]. After annealing at high temperatures, the absorption intensity was increased and the two peak wavelengths shifted from 430 to 600 nm to approximately 465 and 612 nm, respectively, which could be attributed to valence changing from Cr " to Cr". The presence of Cr" ion was confirmed by emission measurement. 

Dimmock, J.O., A.J. Freeman, and R.E. Watson, 1966, Electronic band structure and optical properties of rare earth metals, Abeles, F. ed.. Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Optical Properties and Electronic Structure of Metals and Alloys, Paris, 1965, (North-Holiand Publishing Co., Amsterdam), pp. 273-245. 

Weber JKR, Abadie JG, Key TS, Hiera K, Nordine PC, Waynant RW, Ilev IK (2002) Synthesis and optical properties of rare-earth-aluminum oxide glasses. J Am Ceram Soc 85(5) 1309-1311... 

Ishizaka T., Kurokawa Y., Makino T., Segawa Y. Optical properties of rare earth ion Er ... 

Guo, H., Zhang, W., Lou, L Brioude, A., and Mugnier, J. (2004) Structure and optical properties of rare earth doped Y2O3 waveguide films derived by sol-gel process. Thin Solid Films, 458,274-280. 

Biinzli, J.-C.G., 2003. In Liu, G.K. (Ed.), Spectroscopic Properties of Rare Earths in Optical Materials. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, in press. 

Spectroscopic Properties of Rare Earths in Optical Materials... 

Reid MF (2005) In Liu G, Jacquier B (ed) Spectroscopic properties of rare earth in optical materials. Tsuinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Beijing, Heidelberg 95-129... 

Liu G, Jacquier B (eds) (2005) Spectroscopic properties of rare earths in optical materials. Springer Series in Material Science, vol 83. Springer-Verlag, Berlin... 

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