OPTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ND3+SR-5(VO4)(3)

A spectroscopic investigation of Nd3+ in Sr-5(VO4)(3)F has been perfor med. The Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory was applied to the polarization-avera ged optical-absorption spectra of Nd3+ 4f(3) transitions to determine the crystal intensity parameters: Omega(2)=9.14X10(-20) cm(2), Omega(4 )=5.92X10(-20) cm(2), and Omega(6)=2.03X10(-20) cm(2). The intensity p arameters were then used to determine the emission cm probabilities of transitions from the Nd3+ F-4(3/2) metastable state to the lower lyin g J manifolds and their corresponding branching ratios, the radiative lifetime (248 mu s), and the quantum efficiency(0.93) of the F-4(3/2) state.