Optical spectroscopy of Dy3+ ions in LiNbO3

A systematic spectroscopic study of Dy3+ doped LiNbO3 is presented. The energy position of the Stark levels and their symmetry character is given for most of the multiplets. Luminescence of this system has been investigated in the visible and infrared. The only emitting state in this region is the metastable 4F92 multiplet whose life time is temperature independent and with a value of 186 μs. Evidence about Dy3+ multicentres is also discussed.