Energy levels and optical properties of neodymium-doped barium fluorapatite

Energy levels of the 4f(3) electronic configuration of Nd3+ in barium fluor apatite, Ba-5(PO4)(3)F(B-FAP) have been determined from polarized absorptio n and fluorescence spectra using crystals at 8 K. Experimental energy-level assignments were made initially by comparing the crystal spectra energy le vels with those obtained from those previously reported for Nd3+ in stronti um fluorapatite and fluorapatite. The initial crystal-field parameters were calculated by using lattice summation techniques. The crystal-field parame ters were varied to obtain a best fit between experimental and theoretical energies and the final values give a root-mean-square deviation of 7.1 cm(- 1). The odd-fold crystal-field components are used to calculate the emissio n intensities and lifetimes of the Nd3+ ions in B-FAP. These calculations y ield results in good agreement with the experimental measurements of the ab sorption and emission cross sections and lifetimes. (C) 2000 American Insti tute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)00716-7].