Lighting Up Erbium with Water: Observation of Substantial Crystalline Matric Element Enhancements
01 January 2001
We have found substantial enhancements of the optical matrix elements of Er atoms when water molecules augment the symmetry-breaking electric fields in their crystalline environment. We measure enhancement factors of order 10 for the set of Er energy levels with wavelengths near 1550nm. These transitions are technologically important because they are used in optical amplifiers for communications.