All material types are being considered, from crystals to ceramics and glasses, with focus on those RE3+ hosts with low maximum energy. In this work, a comparative study was performed on the mid-IR (3-5 um) spectroscopic properties of erbium doped in low-phonon fluoride (BaF2) and chloride (CsCdCl3) crystals as well as sulphide (Ga2Ge5S13) glasses. Among the studied materials, Er3+:CsCdCl3 showed the longest 4I9/2 emission lifetime of ~11 ms whereas the ~ 46 us observed from Er3+:BaF2 was the shortest 4I9/2 lifetime. These results reflect the reduced nonradiative rates through multiphonon relaxation in chloride crystals. Spectroscopic results and data modeling including the temperature dependent emission and decay dynamics, Judd-Ofelt analysis, and transition cross-sections will be presented.
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