Judd-Ofelt parametrization from emission spectra: The case study of the Eu3+ 5D1 emitting level

Abstract

Traditional applications of the Judd-Ofelt (JO) theory to the analysis of the Eu3+ optical spectra make use of the emission transitions originating from the 5D0 manifold. In the present paper, we report an alternative method of evaluating the JO intensity parameters from the Eu3+ emission spectra based on the 5D1 → 7F0,1 transitions. The reduced matrix elements of the unit tensor operators are re-calculated for the 5D0,1,2 → 7F0,1,…,6 Eu3+ transitions in the intermediate coupling approximation using the average electrostatic and spin-orbit coupling parameters. The suggested method was tested by analyzing the emission spectra of the Eu3+ doped GdAlO3, LaF3, NaYF4, Y2O3, ZrO2, YNbO4, ZBLA and PIGLZ hosts. It is shown that the developed method is more accurate for the hosts with relatively high 5D1 level population, which emphasizes its high potential and applicability. In addition to the JO analysis, the CIE chromaticity coordinates are calculated for the investigated spectra. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.