Optical properties of perturbed NO 2 ? ions in KNO2 doped NaNO2 single crystals

Summary On the basis of high-resolution and time-resolved fluorescence spectra, a model is proposed for the interpretation of the fluorescence lines originating from various perturbed NO ₂ ^– centers situated in the neighbourhood of the K⁺ ion of the NaNO₂:KNO₂ crystal. Since their excited state energies are lower than that of the host, these perturbed NO ₂ ^– ions act as traps for the host singlet exciton. On the assumption that the perturbation giving rise to those traps results from an interaction of the impurity ion K⁺ with its nearest neighbours, the observed position of the energy levels of the various traps can be reconciled with crystal field calculations.