The subject of this Ph. D. thesis is the characterization of the photoluminescence properties of lanthanide doped wide band gap compounds of interest in photonics and optoelectronics.
Wide gap compounds doped with rare earth elements are of great relevance in science and technology, with applications ranging from solid state lasers for industry, medicine and environmental monitoring, to active optical fibers for telecommunication purposes and phosphors displays and lightning applications. Among the materials currently evaluated as host for lanthanide ions, alkaline earth thiogallates are attracting increasing interest due to a number physical and chemical properties that suggest their employment in efficient and low-cost devices.
The experimental investigation of the photoluminescence properties of alkaline earth thiogallates doped with lanthanides ions presented in this work, was carried-out characterized by means of time resolved photoluminescence measurements as a function of excitation wavelength and as a function of temperature. Phosphorescence and thermoluminescence properties were also investigated. In particular three main issues of basic research and technological relevance were addressed: the interactions between the rare earth elements and the thiogallate matrix, the interactions between the REE and the defects of the host, the interactions between rare earth elements in codoped samples
