Abstract

By using site-selective laser spectroscopy, several sites in hydrogenated and deuterated rare-earth-doped fluorite crystals have been found to exhibit reversible bleaching. The site orientations can be switched between orthogonal directions by corresponding changes in the laser polarization. Such effects are a form of photochemical hole burning and are attributed to laser-induced migration of H⁻ or D⁻ ions between equivalent interstitial positions adjacent to the rare-earth ion.

© 1987 Optical Society of America

Fluorescent Properties of Trivalent Rare Earths in Fluorite Structure Oxides*

Robert C. Linares
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(12) 1700-1702 (1966)

Persistent spectral hole burning due to deuteron tunneling in SrF₂:Pr³⁺:D⁻

R. M. Macfarlane, R. J. Reeves, and G. D. Jones
Opt. Lett. 12(9) 660-662 (1987)

Thermal lensing and permanent refractive index changes in rare-earth-doped glasses

Frederic M. Durville and Richard C. Powell
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 4(12) 1934-1937 (1987)

Dispersion in rare-earth-doped fibers

Irl N. Duling
Opt. Lett. 16(24) 1947-1948 (1991)

Reversible photodarkening and bleaching in Tb³⁺-doped optical fibers

G. R. Atkins and F. Ouellette
Opt. Lett. 19(13) 951-953 (1994)