Cooperative emission in ion implanted Yb:YAG waveguides

In this work, we report the analysis of spectroscopic properties of waveguides fabricated by ion implantation in YAG doped with Yb3+ ions. Three emission bands were detected in the blue, green and red regions under 970-nm excitation. The strong blue-green emission can be explained by a cooperative process between ytterbium ion pairs, leading to emission centered at 514 nm. The additional blue bands as well as green and red emission bands are attributed to the presence of Tm3+ and Er3+ traces. The results include absorption and emission curves as well as decay time rates.