title: Effect of temperature on spectroscopic features relevant to laser performance of YVO4:Er(3+) and GdVO4:Er(3+) crystals.
abstract: Optical spectra and luminescence decay curves were measured for erbium-doped YVO(4) and GdVO(4) single crystals as a function of temperature in the 300 K-670 K temperature region. In spite of structural similarity the two systems studied display significantly different transition intensities and nonradiative relaxation rates. It was found in particular that the intensity of parasitic upconverted emission excited at 978 nm depends weakly on temperature for YVO(4):Er(3+), whereas it decreases monotonously with increasing temperature for GdVO(4):Er(3+) and becomes negligibly small at 670 K. It was concluded that GdVO(4):Er(3+) may be a promising laser active material operating at high thermal loading conditions encountered in high-power diode-pumped IR lasers.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Okólna 2, 50-422 Wrocław, Poland. R.Lisiecki@int.pan.wroc.pl
authors.forename: Radosław
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lisiecki
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Solarz
authors.forename: Grazyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dominiak-Dzik
authors.forename: Witold
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ryba-Romanowski
authors.forename: Tadeusz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lukasiewicz