Low temperature optical study of Gadolinium molybdate and influence of an external magnetic field

We describe the optical absorption spectrum of a single crystal of Gadolinium Molybdata (GMO) at the temperature of liquid helium. We observe a set of sharp lines in the near ultra violet region; we clasify the lines into three groups A, B, and C. We study the positions of the lines as functions of the orientation of the crystal relative to the polarization of the incident light and we investigate the Zeeman effect on the lines of the groups A and B. We suggest that the observed lines of all three groups are due to transitions between the ground 8S72 state and the excited 6P72, 6P52 and 6P32 states of the Gd3+ ion in the crystal.