Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics
Mechanisms for three-centre energy pooling in lanthanide doped crystals
Robert D. Jenkins, Davıd L. Andrews
Abstract
Summary form only given. The migration of excitation energy within dielectric crystals doped with lanthanide ions is a rich area for the study of mechanisms involving both conventional pairwise resonance energy transfer and more complex many-body effects. Within the framework of molecular quantum electrodynamics, we present a delineation of systems undergoing simultaneous transfer from two pre-excited donor ions to a single ground-state acceptor, termed three-centre energy pooling. Calculations lead to the identification of two competing mechanisms of transfer co-existing in each system-one cooperative pathway where the excitation is transferred directly to the acceptor from both donors, alongside an accretive mechanism where the excitation energy of one donor is accrued by a second, with net transfer to the acceptor ensuing.