Effects of annealing treatment and gamma irradiation on the absorption and fluorescence spectra of Cr:GSGG laser crystal

• DOI: 10.1007/s00340-008-3114-3
• Publication Date: 2008-07-25T10:34:27Z
• Authors: D. L. Sun; J. Q. Luo; J. Z. Xiao; Q. L. Zhang; H. H. Jiang; S. T. Yin; Y. F. Wang; X. W. Ge
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; 01 natural sciences

The influence of annealing treatments and gamma-ray irradiation on the absorption and fluorescence spectra of Cr:GSGG crystals grown by the Czochralski method has been investigated. Two absorption bands located near 686 nm and 1050 nm were weakened markedly after the crystal was re-annealed in H2 atmosphere, which is due to the Cr4+ ions being de-oxidized into Cr3+ ions. The other two weak additional absorption bands induced by gamma-ray irradiation appearing near 310 nm and 480 nm are ascribed to the Fe2+ ions and F-type color centers, respectively. In particular, the gamma-ray irradiation with a dose of 100 Mrad has an effect of improving slightly the luminescence properties of Cr:GSGG crystals. The improvement mechanism is analyzed and discussed.