Sink‐Terminated Concentration Quenching of Trivalent Gadolinium and Ytterbium Fluorescence

The lifetimes of Gd3+ 6P7/2 and Yb3+ 2F5/2 fluorescence in a glass host have been studied at room temperature as a function of concentration, and in the case of Gd3+ as a function of added Eu3+ concentration. The results show that the ions ``concentration quench'' by a mechanism involving the migration of excitational energy from ion to ion until a sink in the structure is reached. This result is significant to the preparation of laser materials.