Spectroscopic studies of Yb3+-doped rare earth orthosilicate crystals

Infrared transmission and Raman scattering have been used to study Raman active phonons and crystal-field excitations in Yb3+-doped yttrium, lutetium and scandium orthosilicate crystals (Y2SiO5 (YSO), Lu2SiO5 (LSO) and Sc2SiO5 (SSO)), which belong to the same C2h6 crystallographic space group. Energy levels of the Yb3+ ion 2F5/2 manifold are presented. In the three hosts, Yb3+ ions experience high crystal field strength, particularly in Yb:SSO. Satellites in the infrared transmission spectra have been detected for the first time in the Yb3+-doped rare earth orthosilicates. They could be attributed to perturbed Yb3+ sites of the lattices or to magnetically coupled Yb3 pairs.