Radiative Properties of Tm3+ Doped in Transparent PLZT for Active Electro-optical Applications

The optical transition probability of Tm3+ (7.0 mol%) doped PLZT was investigated because of its great interest in many fields such as optical communications in the mid-infrared waveband and medical instrumentation. The absolute intensities of its forced electric dipole transitions between 420 and 2000 nm were measured. According to Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory, three phenomenological parameters, ?2=9.133￡10-21 cm2, ?4=1.529￡10-21 cm2 and ?6=1.712￡10-21 cm2, were obtained. The J-O intensity parameters were used to calculate the radiative lifetime (7.493 ms) of the excited 3F4 level. The stimulated emission cross-section for the 3F4!3H6 transition was also evaluated. Analysis reveals that Tm3+-doped PLZT is promising for use as e±cient optical amplification devices or zero-loss electro-optical devices.