We performed magnetic field and frequency tunable electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of an
Er3+-doped
Y2SiO5 crystal by observing the change in flux induced on a direct current superconducting quantum interference device (dc SQUID) loop of a tunable Josephson bifurcation amplifer. The observed spectra show multiple transitions which agree well with the simulated energy levels, taking into account the hyperfine and quadrupole interactions of
167Er. The sensing volume is about 0.15 pl, and our inferred measurement sensitivity (limited by external flux noise) is approximately $1.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ electron spins for a 1-s measurement. The sensitivity value is two orders of magnitude better than similar schemes using a dc SQUID switching readout.
We report on a high-resolution optical and magneto-optical spectroscopy, luminescence, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) studies of yttrium orthophosphate single crystals doped with erbium, which are promising telecom-wavelength materials for applications in quantum electronics and quantum information processing. An observation of the hyperfine structure in optical spectra of
167Er isotope in
Er:YPO4 is presented. Energies and symmetries of 40 crystal-field levels of
Er3+ in
Er:YPO4 and
g factors of some of them were determined and successfully modeled on the basis of crystal-field calculations. The obtained set of crystal-field parameters was used in modeling the hyperfine structure observed in the optical and EPR spectra of
Er:YPO4 single crystals.