Phonon Sideband Spectroscopy and 1550 Nm Luminescence from Eu³⁺ and Er³⁺-doped Ferroelectric PLZT for Active Electro-optic Applications

This work reports the spectroscopic behavior of erbium- and europium-doped electro-optic PLZT. Fluorescence at 1.55 μm from Er3+ : PLZT was found to be spectrally broad and flat in comparison to commercially utilized electro-optic materials such as LiNbO3. Phonon sideband spectroscopy of the 7Fo→5D2 pure electronic transition in Eu3+ showed the highest energy phonon from PLZT to be at 750 cm−1. This reduced phonon energy, coupled with moderately high refractive indices inferring large radiative transition probabilities, mark PLZT as a candidate material for efficient lossless and/or amplifying electro-optic devices in optical communication networks