Electron paramagnetic resonance of some lanthanide ions in yttrium and lutetium vanadate

The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) parameters have been determined for the trivalent ions neodymium, erbium and ytterbium, at low abundance in lutetium vanadate. Crystal field splittings produce ground states which are Kramers doublets, and measurements were made of theg-values both parallel and perpendicular to the tetragonal axis; they are compared with previous measurements in yttrium vanadate. Two of the crystal field splitting parameters of the trivalent gadolinium ion (S = 7/2) in LuVO₄ show noticeable difference from those in YVO₄.     

Effect of substitutional order on the relaxation of aluminum nuclei in Y<Subscript>3−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Lu<Subscript>x</Subscript>Al<Subscript>5</Subscript>O<Subscript>12</Subscript> mixed garnets

The spin-lattice relaxation time of ²⁷Al nuclei residing in the octahedral and tetrahedral oxygen environment in Y_{3 ?x}Lu_xAl₅O₁₂ mixed aluminum-yttrium garnets was measured by the NMR method for 0≤x≤3. A maximum in the concentration dependence of the relaxation time was observed for both crystallographic positions at x=0.75; this maximum correlates with the minimum in the NMR linewidth, indicating the ordering obtained as the yttrium and lutetium ions occupy the dodecahedral positions in the garnet lattice.     

Epitaxial films of GeSi, AlGaN, and GaSb and GaSb/InAs superlattices on substrates of fianite

Fianite is a single crystal of cubic solid solutions based on zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂) or hafnium dioxide (HfO₂) with stabilizing oxides of yttrium, scandium, and lanthanides. It is characterized by a unique combination of physical and chemical properties, making it a promising material for wide use in electronics. In this work, we consider new uses of fianite as a monolith substrate for obtaining Ge, GeSi, AlGaN, and GaSb epitaxial films and GaSb/InAs superlattices.     

Trapping and self-trapping in ytterbium-doped oxides with charge transfer luminescence

Temperature dependence of the charge transfer luminescence (CTL) of Yb-doped yttrium aluminum garnet Y₃Al₅O₁₂-Yb (YAG-Yb) and Yb-doped lutetium aluminum perovskite LuAlO₃-Yb (LuAP-Yb) crystals under X-ray excitation and their thermostimulated luminescence are investigated in the temperature range 30-350 K and compared to those of undoped crystals. Simulation using a set of kinetic equations describing the processes of creation of excitons, electron-hole pairs, their trapping and self-trapping, radiative relaxation and quenching is presented for the systems under investigation to analyze qualitatively two different types of experimentally observed temperature dependences: CTL yield decline with the temperature decrease below 110 K as in case of YAG-Yb and constant yield in the same temperature range as in case of LuAP-Yb.     

Element selective X-ray magnetic circular and linear dichroisms in ferrimagnetic yttrium iron garnet films

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) was used to probe the existence of induced magnetic moments in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) films in which yttrium is partly substituted with lanthanum, lutetium or bismuth. Spin polarization of the 4d states of yttrium and of the 5d states of lanthanum or lutetium was clearly demonstrated. Angular momentum resolved d-DOS of yttrium and lanthanun was shown to be split by the crystal field, the two resolved substructures having opposite magnetic polarization. The existence of a weak orbital moment involving the 6p states of bismuth was definitely established with the detection of a small XMCD signal at the Bi M₁-edge. Difference spectra also enhanced the visibility of subtle changes in the Fe K-edge XMCD spectra of YIG and {Y, Bi}IG films. Weak natural X-ray linear dichroism signatures were systematically observed with all iron garnet films and with a bulk YIG single crystal cut parallel to the (1 1 1) plane: this proved that, at room temperature, the crystal cannot satisfy all requirements of perfect cubic symmetry (space group: ), crystal distortions preserving at best trigonal symmetry ( or R3m). For the first time, a very weak X-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) was also measured in the iron K-edge pre-peak of YIG and revealed the presence of a tiny electric quadrupole moment in the ground-state charge distribution of iron atoms. Band-structure calculations carried out with fully relativistic LMTO-LSDA methods support our interpretation that ferrimagnetically coupled spins at the iron sites induce a spin polarization of the yttrium d-DOS and reproduce the observed crystal field splitting of the XMCD signal.     

Magnetic properties of rare-earth transition metal aluminides R6T4Al43 with Ho6Mo4Al43-type structure

The magnetic properties of 53 aluminium-rich intermetallic compounds R₆T₄Al₄₃ with R=rare-earth elements and T=Ti, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W were investigated using polycrystalline samples and a SQUID magnetometer in the temperature range from 2 to 300 K with magnetic flux densities up to 5.5 T. The yttrium and lutetium compounds are Pauli paramagnetic, indicating that the transition metal atoms do not carry magnetic moments. The samarium compounds show van Vleck behavior and antiferromagnetic order with Néel temperatures of less than 12 K. Of these Sm₆Ti₄Al₄₃ becomes metamagnetic. The ytterbium compounds show a mixed or intermediate valent behavior and no magnetic order down to 2 K. All other compounds obey the Curie–Weiss law above 30 K. Their effective magnetic moments correspond to the theoretical moments of the rare-earth ions. They show ferromagnetic or metamagnetic behavior with ordering temperatures all below 20 K. The magnetization curves of most compounds (recorded up to 5.5 T) reach about 50% of the theoretical magnetization already at 0.5 T. The gadolinium compounds are exceptional in that they reach at 0.5 T only about 10% of their theoretical magnetization. The crystal structures of the isotypic compounds Yb₆V₄Al₄₃ and Yb₆Ta₄Al₄₃ were refined from single-crystal X-ray data.     

Description of the geometry of crystals with a hexagonal close-packed structure based on pair interaction potentials

The pair force interaction potential that allows one to describe a deviation from spherical symmetry, which is typical for hexagonal close-packed structures, is constructed using the ??spherically symmetric?? Mie potential that depends only on the interatomic distance. The parameters of the considered potential, which ensure the stability of hexagonal close-packed lattices, are obtained for a wide range of metals, namely, beryllium, gadolinium, hafnium, holmium, dysprosium, yttrium, cobalt, lutetium, magnesium, osmium, rhenium, ruthenium, scandium, thallium, terbium, technetium, titanium, thulium, cerium, zirconium, and erbium. It is shown that for this pair interaction potential the hexagonal close-packed structure is energetically more favorable than the face-centered cubic structure. The proposed potential can be used to perform computational experiments and analytical investigations.     

High-power single-frequency tunable solid-state lasers

Experimental results are presented on the achievement of single-frequency tunable lasing in ruby, Nd-glass, and Nd:YAG lasers with electrooptic Q switching of the cavity by the injection of an external signal. An optimization of the parameters is carried out for lasers on neodymium ions in yttrium aluminum garnet, lanthanum beryllate, chromium-doped gadolinium scandium gallium garnet, and lanthanum hexaaluminate with passive Q switching of the cavity by means of lithium fluoride shutters containing F ₂ ⁻ color centers. High-power single-frequency generation of giant pulses is achieved, with the output wavelength tunable over the half-width of the gain lines of the active media. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 68, 74–79 (October 1998)     

Structural and Near-Infrared Properties of Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript> Activated Lu<Subscript>3</Subscript>NbO<Subscript>7</Subscript> Phosphor

Undoped and Nd³⁺ doped lutetium niobate phases have been prepared by a conventional solid state reaction method using lutetium acetate and niobium oxide at 1250 °C for 6 h. X-ray diffraction patterns of the 6 mol% Lu₃NbO₇ sample exhibited a cubic fluorite single phase. Phase structure exhibited interesting crystallization behaviour depending on increasing Nd³⁺ concentration which led to a Lu₃NbO₇ single phase formation during the heat treatment process. SEM investigations were also in agreement with the XRD results. Morphologies of Nd³⁺ doped lutetium niobate powders exhibited oval like shapes and grain sizes varied between 0.3 and 5 μm. Near-infrared luminescence properties of Nd³⁺ doped Lu₃NbO₇ were also studied. 1.06 μm laser transition characteristics of Nd³⁺ doped lutetium niobate have been observed. Concentration quenching phenomenon was not detected depending on increasing Nd³⁺ doping concentrations at room temperature.     

Luminescence and point defects in cerium-doped lutetium scandium orthoborate crystals

Cerium-doped lutetium scandium orthoborate single crystals as potential scintillation materials were grown by the floating zone (FZ) method for the first time and the Czochralski (Cz) grown crystal was used for comparison. In this paper, the representative composition Lu_0.5Sc_0.5BO₃:0.5at%Ce (abbreviated as LSBO:Ce) was selected as the research target. The phase structure of FZ-grown LSBO:Ce crystal was characterized by X-ray diffraction and its optical properties were investigated using photoluminescence emission (PL), excitation (PLE), radioluminescence (RL) spectra. The defect properties of LSBO:Ce crystals were studied by thermoluminescence (TL) as a function of temperature (300–600 K). The glow curve of FZ-grown LSBO:Ce crystal shows three TSL peaks, at 350, 400, 552 K, corresponding to a trap depth of 0.99, 1.14 and 1.50 eV, respectively. Based on UV-irradiation TL measurements and air-annealing experiments, the former two kinds of traps could be ascribed to the radiation-induced defects and the third kind originated from the oxygen vacancies formed during crystal growth. These defects also existed in the Cz-grown LSBO:Ce crystal.     

High temperature magnetic behaviour of (GdxY1−x)Fe2 compounds

The thermal variation of reciprocal susceptibility of (Gd_xY_1?x)Fe₂ compounds obeys a Néel type variation. Both the effective and saturation iron moments decrease with the increase of yttrium content. A correlation between the exchange fields acting on iron magnetization and the Fe ordered moment is evidenced. Finally, the magnetic behaviour of iron atoms in these compounds is discussed.     

Ab initio study of H and He migrations in β-phase Sc, Y, and Er hydrides

Ab initio calculations based on the density functional theory have been performed to investigate the migrations of hydrogen(H) and helium(He) atoms in β-phase scandium(Sc),yttrium(Y),and erbium(Er) hydrides with three different ratios of H to metal.The results show that the migration mechanisms of H and He atoms mainly depend on the crystal structures of hydrides,but their energy barriers are affected by the host-lattice in metal hydrides.The formation energies of octahedral-occupancy H(H oct) and tetrahedral vacancy(V tet) pairs are almost the same(about 1.2 eV).It is of interest to note that the migration barriers of H increase with increasing host-lattice atomic number.In addition,the results show that the favorable migration mechanism of He depends slightly on the V tet in the Sc hydride,but strongly on that in the Y and Er hydrides,which may account for different behaviours of initial He release from ScT2 and ErT2.     

Efficient room-temperature operation of Cr3+-sensitized,flashlamp-pumped, 2µm lasers

Utilizing the results of Cr³⁺ → Tm³⁺ transfer efficiency studies, we have demonstrated that yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) is the preferred host for room-temperature, flashlamp-pumped solid-state lasers operating in the 2.0 µm spectral range. We report data on two different sensitizer-activator combinations in YAG and yttrium scandium gallium garnet (YSGG) laser materials: one is doped with Cr:Tm:Ho and operates on the Ho³⁺⁵I₇ →⁵I₈ transition at 2.097 µm; the other is doped only with Cr:Tm, which lases on the Tm³⁺³F₄ →³H₆ transition at 2.014 µm. We have achieved a slope efficiency of 5.1% with the Cr:Tm:Ho:YAG laser, which is the highest slope efficiency yet reported for a room-temperature, flashlamp-pumped, 2 µm solid-state laser. We have measured thresholds as low as 38 J and output energies >1.5 J for that system. We also report the first room-temperature operation of an efficient flashlamp-pumped Cr:Tm:YAG laser at 2.014 µm. Thresholds as low as 43 J, output energies exceeding 2 J, and slope efficiencies as high as 4.5% have been achieved. This is an order of magnitude higher than the efficiency previously reported for a 2.01 µm Cr:Tm:YAG laser operated at cryogenic temperatures. These two efficient 2 µm laser systems (Cr:Tm:Ho:YAG and Cr:Tm:YAG) are discussed in terms of their potential for Q-switched operation.     

氘化及氦离子注入对钪膜的表面形貌和相结构的影响

采用XRD, SEM, AFM等详细研究了氘化及氦离子注入对钪膜的表面形貌和相结构的影响. 结果表明,在单晶硅及抛光Mo基片上制备的钪膜均具有(002)晶面择优取向;钪膜氘化后表面会出现大量孔洞, 氘化后氘化钪(ScD₂)晶粒长大,但内部会残留少量未完全氘化反应的晶粒尺寸较小的 ScD_0.33/Sc晶粒;氦离子注入对钪及氘化钪的表面形貌没有明显影响, 离子注入的氦将在钪及氘化钪晶格中聚集成泡,导致氦离子注入层中的钪及氘化钪衍射峰向低角度偏移, 并且氦泡的聚集具有择优取向性.     

Electron paramagnetic resonance of scandium in silicon carbide

The EPR spectra of scandium acceptors and Sc²⁺(3d) ions are observed in 6H-SiC crystals containing a scandium impurity. The EPR spectra of scandium acceptors are characterized by comparatively small hyperfine interaction constants, whose values are consistent with the constants for other group III elements in SiC: boron, aluminum, and gallium acceptors. The EPR spectra of scandium acceptors undergo major changes in the temperature interval 20–30 K. In the low-temperature phase the EPR spectra are characterized by orthorhombic symmetry, whereas the high-temperature phase has higher axial symmetry. The EPR spectra observed at temperatures above 35 K and ascribed by the authors to Sc²⁺(3d) ions, or to the A ²⁻ state of scandium, have significantly larger hyperfine structure constants and narrower lines in comparison with the EPR spectra of scandium acceptors. The parameters of these EPR spectra are close to those of Sc²⁺(3d) in ionic crystals and ZnS, whereas the parameters of the EPR spectra of scandium acceptors correspond more closely to the parameters of holes localized at group III atoms, in particular, at scandium atoms in GeO₂. It is concluded that in all centers the scandium atoms occupy silicon sites. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 52–57 (January 1997)     

Role of chemical pressure in enhancing the transition temperature (T<Subscript>c</Subscript>) and upper critical field (H<Subscript>c2</Subscript>) in the Y-doped Ce-oxyfluoride superconductor

Structural and superconducting properties of yttrium substituted Ce_1-xY_x(O/F)FeAs superconductors have been investigated for the first time. All the compounds crystallize in the tetragonal ZrCuSiAs structure type. There is a decrease in both the a and c lattice parameters on increasing yttrium substitution (with fixed F content) along with a substantial enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature (T_c) and upper critical field (H_c2) indicating the influence of chemical pressure. Interestingly the maximum T_c (~48 K) was observed for an intermediate composition (Ce_0.5Y_0.5O_0.9F_0.1FeAs) which is higher than either of the parent Y or Ce-compounds, (YO_0.9F_0.1FeAs (~10 K) and Ce(O/F)FeAs (~42 K)). The transition temperature was also found to be nearly independent of the electron -doping introduced by fluoride substitution (0.1 to 0.2 moles per formula unit) indicating the significance of the charge reservoir layer (Ce-O). The yttrium substituted (fluoride free) compositions of the type, Ce_1-xY_xOFeAs were found to be semimetallic like the parent compound CeOFeAs with the shift in the anomaly temperature towards low temperature on substitution of yttrium ions. Hall coefficient and thermopower measurements show an increase in charge carriers (electrons) through Y-doping in fluorine doped CeOFeAs.     

The electric field gradient and its temperature dependence for ruthenium in scandium and yttrium

The electric field gradients (EFG) for ruthenium in scandium and yttrium metal were determined by TDPAC measurements to be 19(4) × 10¹⁷ V/cm² and 5.5(12) × 10¹⁷ V/cm² respectively at room temperature. The EFG for Ru in Sc was found to vary considerably in the temperature range from 14 to 700 K, whereas for Ru in Y only an extremely small temperature dependence of the EFG was observed.     

Photoluminescence Response from the Turkish Dentritic Agates

The three-dimensional photoluminescence emissions between 380 and 800 nm of the dentritic agate with white body color from the Dereyalak-?nönü-Eski?ehir (Turkey) region were obtained at the temperatures between 250 and 340 K under 366 nm excitation. The most advantage of three-dimensional photoluminescence graphic in a silica structure is to demonstrate clearly all vibronic structures through temperature increasing on the spectra. Hence, photoluminescence response from the gem-quality material was discussed in relation to chemical impurities of trivalent rare earth elements.

In the photoluminescence spectra, two strong and many weaker emission bands became clear at the lower temperature (250 K) conditions. First strong one is the purple band, and the highest emission peak is observed at 394 nm. Second strong one is the red band, and the highest emission peak is observed at 717 nm. The half-width of these main bands is approximately 17–19 nm, and such band's combination is typical for trivalent rare earth elements. Chemical analyses in this study show the abundances of many rare earth elements in the material. In order of abundance, they are yttrium (845 ppm), gadolinium (238 ppm), lutetium (196 ppm), dysprosium (45 ppm), neodymium (41 ppm), promethium (34 ppm), europium (18 ppm), and scandium (3 ppm). However, the two strong emission bands are, of course, due to yttrium and gadolinium ions, respectively.

As a result, the intensities of these bands gradually decreased forming a sequence until the temperature of 280 K. Hence, the photoluminescence of the Turkish dentritic agates does not exist at higher temperatures, mainly because of high iron (40.000 ppm) abundance.     

The electronic state of scandium trimer encapsulated in a C82 cage

The electron spin resonance spectrum of scandium trimer encapsulated in a C₈₂ cage (Sc₃@C₈₂) was measured at low temperatures. The spectrum exhibited a specific pattern due to the strongly anisotropic hyperfine tensor of the scandium trimer. The electronic state of the Sc₃@C₈₂ was determined from an analysis of the hyperfine tensor.     

Magnetic,electronic and electron spin resonance studies of the (Gd1−xYx)Ni2 compounds

Magnetization, electron spin resonance and heat capacity measurements have been made on the (Gd_1-xYx)Ni₂ compounds. Magnetization measurements reveal a moment deficiency for gadolinium in this series. In GdNi₂ a value of 6.92μ_B is obtained for the gadolinium moment, which decreases further with yttrium substitution. In the concentration range 0.2 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.8 the samples show features seen in inhomogeneous ferromagnets.The ESR measurements reveal a negative g-shift and a very shallow ESR bottleneck in this system.The specific heat of the samples in the concentration range 0.2 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.8 show complex behaviour: downturn at low temperatures in the usual (C/T) against T² graphs, anomalously large γ-values and so on. In the remaining compounds the specific heat shows normal behaviour. At the YNi₂ end of the series a rapid increase in the host density of state takes place when gadolinium is substituted for yttrium.