High-resolution transient and permanent spectral hole burning in Ce3+ : Y2SiO5 at liquid helium temperatures
We perform hole burning with a low-drift stabilized laser within the zero phonon line of the 4f-5d transition in Ce3+:Y2SiO5 at 2 K. The narrowest spectral holes appear for small applied magnetic fields and are 6±4 MHz wide (FWHM). This puts an upper bound on the homogeneous linewidth of the transition to 3±2 MHz, which is close to lifetime limited. The spin level relaxation time is measured to 72