The basic absorption spectra of Er in Bi2TeO5 crystals are presented and an
alyzed, Eight transitions were identified from the I-4(15/2) ground state w
ith all the possible Stark components at 10 K, Further splitting of the lin
es indicated three major sites for Er3+ in the crystal. Transitions from th
e higher Stark levels of the ground state were identified at 200 K, The spe
ctroscopic observations are in good agreement with previous results on oxid
e crystals exhibiting similar coordination number and symmetry. (C) 2000 El
sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.