Co-occurrent white emission and photoconductivity in Yb3+ doped YAG nanoceramics induced by infrared laser excitation

Photoconductivity and laser induced white emission were investigated in Yb3+ doped YAG nanoceramics under infrared laser excitation in vacuum. Correlation between the two phenomena was analyzed. Power dependences of both photocurrent and white emission exhibited a threshold behavior characteristic for multiphoton avalanche processes. Comparison between different dopant concentrations showed that with higher Yb3+ content, the magnitudes of broadband emission intensity and photoconductivity rise. Furthermore, the excitation power thresholds for occurrence of the said phenomena decrease with increasing dopant concentration.