Abstract

The transfer of electronic excitations from Cr²⁺ to Fe²⁺ ions in co-doped epitaxially grown ZnSe is studied by time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy with unprecedented sub-10 ns time resolution. Upon excitation of Cr²⁺ ions by a picosecond pulse at 2.05 µm wavelength, PL from Fe²⁺ ions displays a delayed onset and a retarded decay in comparison to Fe²⁺ PL directly excited at 3.24 µm. We measure an extremely rapid 60 ns buildup of the Fe²⁺ luminescence, which is followed by a slower relaxation on the few micrometer scale. The experimental results are analyzed in the framework of Förster radiationless resonant energy transfer. Directly connecting to the work of Fedorov et al. [Opt. Mater. Express 9, 2340 (2019) [CrossRef]  ], the 60-ns buildup time of energy transfer is found to correspond to a Cr²⁺–Fe²⁺ distance of 0.95 nm, close to the length of the space diagonal of the ZnSe unit cell. This result demonstrates a significant density of spatially correlated Cr²⁺–Fe²⁺ ion pairs at short distance, in parallel to ions with a random distribution at a larger mutual separation.

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Mid-IR photoluminescence of Fe²⁺ and Cr²⁺ ions in ZnSe crystal under excitation in charge transfer bands

J. Peppers, V. V. Fedorov, and S. B. Mirov
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Mid-IR (4.4  μm) Zn_1−xMn_xSe:Cr²⁺,Fe²⁺ (x = 0.3) laser pumped by 1.7  μm laser using Cr²⁺-Fe²⁺ energy transfer

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4.24 μm mid-infrared laser based on a single Fe²⁺-doped ZnSe microcrystal

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Long-pulse 4.4–4.6 μm laser oscillations of Fe²⁺ ions in a Zn_1-xMn_xSe (x = 0.3) crystal pumped by a 1940 nm Tm fiber laser through Cr²⁺ → Fe²⁺ energy transfer

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Influence of the pumping wavelength on laser properties of Fe²⁺ ions in ZnSe crystal

Maxim E. Doroshenko, Helena Jelínková, Michal Jelínek, David Vyhlídal, Jan Šulc, N. O. Kovalenko, and I. S. Terzin
Opt. Lett. 44(7) 1686-1689 (2019)