Phonon-Assisted Population Inversion in Lanthanide-Doped Upconversion Ba2LaF7Nanocrystals in Glass-Ceramics

Xuhui Xu, Wenfei Zhang, Decheng Yang, Wei Lu, Jianbei Qiu, Siu Fung Yu

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

118 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The use of Yb3+/Er3+codoped Ba2LaF7(BLF) nanocrystals to avoid limitations and realize high-performance and compact self-cooling lasers was investigated. High conversion efficiency and compact self-cooling lasers, which sustain high T operation with low excitation threshold are fabricated by using Yb3+/Er3+codoped BLF nanocrystals as the active medium to support random lasing action. Yb3+/Er3+codoped BLF nanocrystals were grown by thermal annealing of BLF:Yb,Er glass-ceramic. It is observed that BLF nanocrystals, which have an average diameter of 10 nm, are randomly formed inside the glass matrix. High crystallinity of the BLF nanocrystals is confirmed by the corresponding select area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns. A dual-beam focused ion beam microscope (JIB-4501) with electron-beam lithography-nanometer pattern generation system was used for the etching process. process. After the etching process, a layer of gold film was coated onto the surface of the BLF film except the ridge waveguide. It was observed that BLF nanocrystals have very low phonon energy and Er3+ions can provide sufficient intermediate energy states to perform effective anti-Stokes cycle, Er3+doped BLF nanocrystals may also have potential to achieve all-solid-state compact cryocoolers.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)8045-8050
Number of pages6
JournalAdvanced Materials
Volume28
Issue number36
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2016

Keywords

  • phonon-assisted population inversion
  • random cavities
  • rare-earth doped nanoparticles
  • self-cooling
  • upconversion lasing, nanocrystals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Phonon-Assisted Population Inversion in Lanthanide-Doped Upconversion Ba2LaF7Nanocrystals in Glass-Ceramics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this