Crystal growth and spectroscopic properties of praseodymium and cerium co-doped Y2SiO5

Praseodymium and cerium co-doped yttrium silicate (Pr,Ce:YSO) crystal with high optical quality was grown by the Czochralski method. The segregation coefficient of Pr3+ and Ce3+ is measured to be 0.547 and 0.136, respectively. The polarized absorption bands centered at 268 nm, 299 nm and 356 nm were assigned to 4f (2F5/2)→5d inter-configuration transitions of Ce3+, while bands centered at 220 nm and 250 nm were assigned to 4fn–4fn−15d transitions of Pr3+. The VUV–UV excitation spectra for monitoring Pr3+ emissions centered at 610 nm (1D2→3H4) and 489 nm (3P0→3H4), as well as Ce3+ emission centered at 450 nm were recorded at T=8 K in the range of 100 nm–320 nm. Polarized excitation spectra for Ce3+ emission centered at 424 nm and Pr3+ emission centered at 611 nm were recorded at T=300 K. Polarized emission spectra were obtained upon excitation at 365 nm and 456 nm at T=300 K. Lifetimes were estimated to be 170 μs for Pr3+ (1D2), 3 μs for Pr3+ (3P0) and 39 ns for Ce3+ (5d1).