Abstract

We have employed a purely optical method to measure spin-lattice relaxation in the lower excited ⁴S_3/2 state of Er³⁺ in LaF₃ at helium temperatures. Above 3 K the relaxation is dominated by an Orbach process through the upper ⁴S_3/2 state. Below 3 K the relaxation is caused by some residual mechanism that obscures the Kramers–Van Vleck direct process. By relating the Orbach relaxation measurements to the homogeneous broadening of the upper ⁴S_3/2 level, we determine values of the transition rates between the upper and lower ⁴S_3/2 states.

© 1978 Optical Society of America

Spin-lattice relaxation by the direct process in optically excited Er³⁺ in LaF₃

H. Wolfrum, K. Lanzinger, and K. F. Renk
Opt. Lett. 5(7) 294-296 (1980)

Photon echoes in plasmas: collisional relaxation in helium on 2 ³S₁–3 ³P₀₁₂

T. Baer and I. D. Abella
Opt. Lett. 3(5) 170-171 (1978)

Concentration independence of photon echo lifetimes in Pr³⁺:LaF₃

A. Yamagishi and A. Szabo
Opt. Lett. 2(6) 160-162 (1978)

Fluorine spin frozen core in Pr³⁺:LaF₃ observed by cross relaxation

L. L. Wald, E. L. Hahn, and Matjaz Lukac
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 9(5) 789-793 (1992)

Associative ionization of laser-excited Rydberg states in strontium vapor

E. F. Worden, J. A. Paisner, and J. G. Conway
Opt. Lett. 3(4) 156-158 (1978)