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IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics

Trivalent-iron-doped andalusite as crystal for microwave waves

I. I. Eru, S. A. Peskovatskiǐ, A. Chernets

Published Nov 1, 1968• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Paramagnetic ions Fe3+, substituted as an impurity in andalusite (Al2SiO5) host crystals, have been experimentally investigated. The spin-lattice relaxation and cross-relaxation times and inversion ratio in this spin system were observed. Dielectric properties of the host crystals were determined. General maser properties of trivalent-iron-doped andalusite crystal are discussed. Two types of the andalusite cavity masers are described. TheX-band three-level maser operates at a temperature of 2.1°K and a magnetic field of 1400 gauss. Electronic gains of 25 dB and instantaneous bandwidth of 3.5 \pm 0.5 MHz, at the frequency of 9.45 GHz, were obtained. TheF-band push-pull maser operates at a temperature of 2.1°K and a magnetic field of 2800 gauss. Electronic gains of 30 dB and instantaneous bandwidth of 5.5 ± 0.5 MHZ, at the frequency of 100.4 GHz, were obtained.

DOI
10.1109/jqe.1968.1074969

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Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters•Aug 1, 2018•8 citations
Paramagnetic ions Fe3+, substituted as an impurity in andalusite (Al2SiO5) host crystals, have been experimentally investigated. The spin-lattice relaxation and cross-relaxation times and inversion ratio in this spin system were observed. Dielectric properties of the host crystals were determined. General maser properties of trivalent-iron-doped andalusite crystal are discussed. Two types of the andalusite cavity masers are described. TheX-band three-level maser operates at a temperature of 2.1°K and a magnetic field of 1400 gauss. Electronic gains of 25 dB and instantaneous bandwidth of 3.5 \pm 0.5 MHz, at the frequency of 9.45 GHz, were obtained. TheF-band push-pull maser operates at a temperature of 2.1°K and a magnetic field of 2800 gauss. Electronic gains of 30 dB and instantaneous bandwidth of 5.5 ± 0.5 MHZ, at the frequency of 100.4 GHz, were obtained.
The three-level excitation method for solid state masers, including some background material on paramagnetic resonance, is reviewed. With respect to the experimental application of the maser material, two cases can be distinguished, In the first, maser action is based mainly on a favorable relaxation time ratio in signal and idler transitions. It is shown that the relaxation time ratio can be changed artificially by a doping technique. Experimental evidence is presented for two such doping techniques, one self-doping, the other impurity doping. In the second case, maser action is based primarily on a favorable frequency ratio of signal and idler transitions. Maser experiments using this approach are described. In addition, excitation of unidirectional gain and attenuation by circular polarization is discussed. Properties of practical isolator materials are surveyed; they include high-concentration paramagnetic and polycryslolline ferrimagnetic materials.
The molecular structure of a 3d 5 configuration ion in a trigonal ligand field is theoretically established on the basis of the 252\times252 complete energy matrice. The optical absorption and the electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of the Fe3+ ion in the sapphire crystal (α-Al2 O3) have been studied by diagonalizing the complete energy matrice. The calculated results are in very good agreement with previous experimental observations. The strength of the transition probabilities between pairs of the energy levels have been calculated to determine the possibility to achieve a population inversion in the ground state by applying optical pumping to the crystal. Preliminary results based on the computed transition parameters and on the maser rate equations model show that a 31 GHz maser signal can be effectively generated depending on the cryogenic resonator design.
Masers, the microwave analog of lasers, are an important class of devices that can be used to generate highly coherent and stable microwave signals as well as quantum-limited amplification of microwave photons. Recently, the interest in such devices has increased, probably owing to experiments demonstrating the successful operation at room temperature of solid-state maser employing defects in diamond. These defects, called nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers, are comprised of a negatively charged substitutional nitrogen that replaces one of the diamond crystal lattice’s carbons and a vacancy adjacent to the excluded carbon atom. The performance of diamond-based masers, in terms of gain, noise, bandwidth, frequency of operation, and saturation, greatly depends upon the specific diamond crystal composition and its geometry in the respective microwave device. The currently available data on these issues are scarce and sometimes conflicting. It is, therefore, important to provide additional experimental data, complemented by theoretical analysis, to further optimize the required diamond material and thus enhance the capabilities of diamond-based maser technology. The latter is currently limited to operate only as an oscillator at very small bandwidths, with low saturation power. Here, we provide experimental results on a set of important parameters affecting diamond maser operation, such as the population and linewidth of the electron spin energy levels of the NVs under light illumination, as well as their relaxation times for several different diamond material compositions. These results are then used to point out which diamond material compositions and crystal geometry may be best suitable for maser-type applications.
We present experimental observations of bimodal solitons in a solid state three-level maser cooled to millikelvin temperatures. The maser is built on a highly dilute Fe3+{\text{Fe}}^{3+}Fe3+ spin ensemble hosted by a high-purity Al2O3{\text{Al}}_{2}{\text{O}}_{3}Al2​O3​ crystal constituting a high-quality factor whispering-gallery-mode resonator. The maser is pumped through one of these modes, near 31 GHz, generating two signals near 12.04 GHz from two distinct modes, 8 MHz apart. The system demonstrates three regimes, namely, a continuous-wave regime, a dense soliton regime, and a sparse soliton regime. These results open other avenues for studying nonlinear wave phenomena using microwave systems as well as different applications of solitons in this part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The frequency-field and orientation dependences of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra are measured for impurity Tm 3+ ions in yttrium orthosilicate (Y 2 SiO 5 ) single crystals by stationary EPR spectroscopy in the frequency range of 50–100 GHz at 4.2 K. The position of the impurity ion in the crystal lattice and its magnetic characteristics are determined. The temperature dependences of the spin–lattice and phase relaxation times are measured by pulse EPR methods in the temperature range of 5–15 K and the high efficiency of the direct single-phonon mechanism of spin–lattice relaxation is established. This greatly shortens the spin–lattice relaxation time at low temperatures and makes impurity Tm 3+ ions in Y 2 SiO 5 a promising basis for the implementation of high-speed quantum memory based on rare-earth ions in dielectric crystals.