APS Logo

<i>Ab-inito</i> and crystal-field calculations of defect properties of Er<sup>3+</sup> in yttria

ORAL

Abstract

Wide band-gap oxides with rare-earth impurities exhibit narrow transitions with long coherence times and high quantum efficiency due to partially filled f orbitals. This allows the fabrication and usage of these materials in highly efficient optical amplifiers, high power lasers, data, and quantum information processing.
We study electronic, structural, and spin properties of trivalent erbium impurities in yttria. First, we perform ab-initio calculations of the structural properties using the generalized gradient approximation and the pseudopotential method. We also calculate the electronic band structure and the density of states of the bulk and doped yttria. Then we proceed to compute the formation energies of erbium impurities. We also compute level splittings and g-tensors using a crystal field Hamiltonian. We show that the g-tensor is highly anisotropic, with a large component in one direction. The presence of an abundant isotope with a non-zero nuclear spin and anisotropic g-tensor suggest that an experimental control of the spin dynamics of this system is possible through the Zeeman and hyperfine interaction.

Presenters

  • Cuneyt Sahin

    Univ of Iowa, University of Iowa, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa

Authors

  • Cuneyt Sahin

    Univ of Iowa, University of Iowa, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa

  • Tian Zhong

    University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago

  • Michael Flatté

    Optical Science and Technology Center and Department of Physics, The University of Iowa, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, University of Iowa, Univ of Iowa, University of Iowa, University of Chicago, and Eindhoven University of Technology, Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa