EPR, optical and thermometric studies of Cr3+ ions in the α-Al2O3 synthetic single crystal

Abstract

The optical spectra of a single crystal of α-Al2O3Cr3+ were studied in a wide temperature range. The crystal was demonstrated to have a potential for optical thermometric applications. Three ways of measuring temperature were tested and analyzed: i) luminescence intensity ratio of the R1 and R2 lines; ii) change of the full width of half maxima of the R1 and R2 lines, and iii) thermal shifts of the R1 and R2 lines maxima. The highest absolute and relative sensitivities were obtained at cryogenic temperatures. In addition, the thermal shifts of the R lines were analyzed using the McCumber-Sturge equation to estimate the Debye temperature and the electron-vibrational interaction parameter.