Measurement of the probabilities of radiative transitions from a metastable state of Nd3+ in silicate glasses

Measurements were made of the ratio of the luminescence energies of Nd³⁺ in bands corresponding to the transitions ⁴F_3/2→⁴I_9/2, ⁴F_3/2→⁴I_11/2; ⁴F_3/2→⁴I_13/2,and ⁴F_3/2→⁴I_15/2. The radiative probabilities of these transitions were determined and the radiative lifetime of the ⁴F_3/2 metastable state of Nd³⁺ was found for silicate glasses LGS–24, LGS–28, and LGS–247. The kinetics of decay of the metastable level was found in a range of luminescence intensities representing a factor of 10³. When the concentration of neodymium was 2 wt.%, the final stages of the decay were exponential and the constant was nearly equal to the radiative lifetime. The results of measurements carried out on these silicate glasses were compared with those obtained for glass of ED–2 type.