High-resolution magneto-optical spectroscopy of $^{7}\text{LiYF}_4:^{167}\text{Er}^{3+}, ^{166}\text{Er}^{3+}$ and analysis of hyperfine structure of ultranarrow optical transitions

Abstract

We performed high-resolution magneto-optical spectroscopy of the hyperfine transitions from 4I15/2 to the 4I13/2 and 4I9/2 multiplets of 167Er3+ and 166Er3+ in an isotopically purified 7LiYF4 crystal in various external magnetic fields up to 0.7 T. The obtained experimental results are interpreted in the framework of the generalized theoretical approach. The derived model successfully explains all the experimentally observed optical hyperfine transitions by using a single set of basic parameters found for the crystal-field interaction, magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole hyperfine interactions, together with Zeeman interactions at different orientations of the external magnetic field. A number of the studied quantum transitions appears to be promising for use in Raman quantum storage at optical telecommunication wavelengths.