Energy levels of Er3+ in LiYF4

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Abstract
A preliminary analysis of the absorption and fluorescence spectra of Er3+ (4f11) in LiYF4 has been made. With the aid of previous work on Er3+ in LaF3, various states have been identified. The Racah parameters giving the best overall agreement between the predicted `free ion' spectrum and the spectrum of Er3+:LiYF4 are identical with those for LaF3, that is E1 = 6747 cm-1, E2 = 3163 cm-1, E3 = 6358 cm-1 and ζ = 2345 cm-1. An attempt has also been made to determine the nature of the crystal-field potential by considering the rare earth site as a tetragonally distorted cube. The most suitable crystal-field parameters were found to be B20 = -115 cm-1, B40 = -171 cm-1, B44 = -661 cm-1, B60 = +255 cm-1 and B64 = -168 cm-1.