Optical Studies on the Laser Materials of Rare Earth Ions Doped in Crystalline or Ceramic Host Materials and Effect of the Dopant Concentration

Optical Studies on the Laser Materials of Rare Earth Ions Doped in Crystalline or Ceramic Materials and Effect of the Dopant Concentration

Dan Qiao’25* and Xuesheng Chen, Physics & Astronomy, Wheaton College, Norton, MA 02677 

Some rare earth ions doped laser materials of having either the crystalline or polycrystalline ceramic structure were studied for their unique absorption and transmission spectral characteristics, which are crucial for their applications in lasering, amplifying, and photonic devices’ functions. We first focused on investigating absorption and transmission spectral features in the wavelength range of 400-1100nm for the rare earth ion Yb³⁺, Er³⁺, Nd³⁺, or Ho³⁺ doped in host materials of crystals of GSGG, GGG, YAG, and KYF₄ or ceramics of PLZT, PLMNT, and MNT. The host materials of different structures were observed to affect these rare earth ions’ optical properties very distinctively; the absorption and transmission spectra showed that the rare-earth-ion dopants in crystalline hosts exhibit sharp and well-resolved absorption or transmission lines while in polycrystalline ceramic hosts exhibit much broadened and overlapped absorption and transmission spectral lines. We then focused on investigating the effect of the rare earth ion Er³⁺ dopant concentration on their absorption and transmission features; in the Er³⁺ doped crystal GGG, we observed a notable rise in its absorption peak intensity without significant broadening when the Er³⁺ concentration increases from 1% to 30%.  Detailed results and discussions will be presented at the meeting. This research work provides important information needed for these materials’ applications in lasing or optical device functions.

*Dan Qiao was an undergraduate at Wheaton College (MA), who graduated in May 2025; he is currently a graduate student in physics at UMass Boston (MA).

** Prefer: Poster