title: Measurement of infrared level lifetime by upconversion luminescence.
abstract: Based on repetition frequency-dependent excited state absorption (ESA) upconversion (UC) luminescence, a method to measure the lifetime of an IR intermediate level is proposed so long as ESA UC luminescence can occur in the rare earth ions. The feasibility of this idea is demonstrated via a theoretical simulation. A Er(3+):LiNbO₃ crystal ESA UC luminescence under femtosecond laser excitation is used to illustrate this measurement method, and the obtained 1.5 μm lifetime of 2.31 ms is shorter than previous reported values. This method can obviate the influence of radiation trapping effect on lifetime measurement, which is crucial in the traditional pulse sampling technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Xiamen University, 422-19 South Siming Road, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China. ahli@xmu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Ai-Hua
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhi-Ren
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lü
authors.forename: Zhao-Peng
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yu-Heng
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Wei-Long
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D007259:Infrared Rays; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors