Time-Resolved Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Er3+ ions in the SrF2 Crystal

The photoluminescence and photoexcitation spectra as well as the luminescence decay kinetics of Er3+ ions in the visible ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) regions have been studied by the method of low-temperature, time-resolved VUV-spectroscopy on excitation by synchrotron radiation. In the VUV spectral region of the luminescence of SrF2:1% Er3+, the 146.5-nm band with a time of decay of less than 0.6 nsec was revealed together with the well-known emission band at 164.3 nm (decay constant in the microsecond range). Its possible nature is discussed. The specific features of the formation of photoexcitation spectra of the f-f and f-d transitions in the Er3+ ion are considered. Competition between the processes of excitation of f-f and d-f luminescence has been revealed. It manifests itself in the inverse relationship of their photoexcitation spectra in a range of energies of incident photons that are close to the position of the 4fn-15d configuration levels. © 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.This work was carried out with the support of grants from the Russian Fundamental Research Foundation (05-02-16530), "Universities of Russia (UR 02.01.433), Ural Scientific Center Promising Materials" CRDF (EK-005-XI), and partially from BMBF (05KS8GMD/1)

Vacuum Ultraviolet Excitation of Rare-Earth ion Luminescence in Strontium Fluoride Crystals

The photoexcitation spectra (70-280 nm) of the Eu 3+, Tb 3+, Dy 3+, Er 3+, and Tm 3+ ion luminescence in strontium fluoride crystals are studied at 8 and 295 K by vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy using synchrotron-radiation excitation. The processes of transfer of the excitation energy to the impurity centers as well as the relaxation mechanisms of the excited high-energy states of the rare-earth ions are analyzed. The bands corresponding to the interconfiguration 4f-5d transitions and the charge-transfer bands are identified in the photoexcitation luminescence spectra. ©2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.The present work was supported in part by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant 05-02-16530), by the Program “Russian Universities” (Grant UR.02.01.433), by REC-005 (ЕК-005-XI), and BMBF (05KS8GMD/1)

Effect of An Electron Beam Irradiation on Optical and Luminescence Properties of LiBaAlF6 Single Crystals

Paper reports the effect of a 10 keV, 110 keV and 10 MeV electron beam irradiation on optical and luminescence properties of LiBaAlF6 (LBAF) single crystals at 10, 90, and 293 K. Five absorption bands at 2.0, 3.2, 4.3, 4.9 and 5.5 eV were revealed in irradiated crystals in the energy range of 1.2–9.5 eV. Several PL emission bands (1.7–1.8, 2.2 and 2.5–3.5 eV) related to defects were found in the luminescence spectra at room temperature, while only one luminescence band at E = 2.2 eV appears at T = 90 K in LBAF crystals after a 10 MeV electron bombardment. The PL excitation spectra and time-response for these emission bands were studied at 10, 90, and 293 K. Thermoluminescence (TL) of irradiated crystals was studied in the temperature range of 90–740 K. New TL glow peaks at 166, 530 and 670 K were revealed and their parameters were determined. Temperature dependence of relative photoluminescence yield recorded monitoring emission at the 1.87 and 2.23 eV in the temperature range from 130 to 450 K, were fitted using five quenching processes related to TL glow peaks revealed in our research. Significant similarity in the manifestation of radiation-induced defects for LBAF and previously studied LiBaF3 single crystals is noted. The effect of an electron beam irradiation on optical and luminescence properties of LBAF single crystals and possible origin of the radiation defects were discussed. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.This work was partially supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (Contract No.02.A03.21.0006) (the basic part of the government mandate), the Center of Excellence "Radiation and Nuclear Technologies" (Competitiveness Enhancement Program of Ural Federal University, Russia), HASYLAB DESY (Project No.20110843), Estonian Research Council (projects IUT2-26 and PUT1081). We are grateful to Ludmila Isaenko for providing the crystals examined and Eugene Vasilchenko for recording a high-temperature TL glow curve

Prompt and delayed secondary excitons in rare gas solids

Direct and indirect creation of excitons in rare gas solids has been investigated with reflectivity and luminescence spectroscopy. For the heavy rare gas solids Kr and Xe, new and more reliable exciton parameters have been deduced. With time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy, fast and delayed secondary-exciton creation has been established and separated. Thermalization of photocarriers and their delayed recombination have been analyzed, including a first attempt to investigate the influence of excitation density on the carrier dynamics. The existence of excitonic side bands of ionization limits Ei (either band gap or inner-shell ionization limits) in prompt secondary exciton creation has been established. The threshold energies of these side bands are given by Eth≈Ei nEex (n is integer, Eex is exciton energy). The side bands are ascribed to the formation of electronic polaron complexes, superimposed to inelastic scattering of photoelectrons

Phase Transition, Radio- and Photoluminescence of K3Lu(PO4)2 Doped with Pr3+ Ions

Luminescent characteristics of K3Lu(PO4)2:Pr3+ (1 and 5 mol.%) microcrystalline powders, a promising optical material for scintillation applications, were investigated using various experimental techniques. The material shows emission features connected with both high intensity interconfigurational 4f15d→4f2 transitions (broad UV emission bands) and intraconfigurational 4f2→4f2 transitions (weak emission lines in the visible range). The output of X-ray excited 4f15d→4f2 emission of Pr3+ increases with a temperature rise from 90 K to room temperature and higher depending on the Pr3+ ions concentration. The high 5% concentration of Pr3+ ions is found to be favourable for the stabilization of a monoclinic phase (P21/m space group) over a trigonal one (P3‾ space group) while emission properties of the material reveal that a phase transition occurs at higher temperatures. Decay kinetics of Pr3+ 4f15d→4f2 emission are recorded upon excitation with high repetition rate X-ray synchrotron excitation and pulse cathode ray excitation. Issues related to a non-exponential decay of luminescence and presence of slow decay components are discussed in terms of energy transfer dynamics. The presence of defects was revealed with thermoluminescence measurements and these are suggested to be the mainly responsible for delayed recombination of charge carriers on the Pr3+ 4f15d states. Some peculiarities of host-to-impurity energy transfer are discussed. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.The work was partially supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (through the basic part of the government mandate, project No. FEUZ-2020-0060), Act 211 Government of the Russian Federation (contract № 02.A03.21.0006), STSM grant from COST Action TD1401 ″FAST” as well as by Estonian Research Council (project PRG629) and Estonian Center of Excellence in Research “Advanced materials and high-technology devices for sustainable energetics, sensorics and nanoelectronics” TK141 (project No. 2014-2020.4.01.15-0011) by the ERDF funding in Estonia. The time-resolved X-ray excited measurements were performed at the Shared research center SSTRC based on the NovoFEL/VEPP-4 - VEPP-2000 facilities at Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia) while using experimental equipment funded by RFMEFI62119X0022 project. Authors thank Erica Viviani (University of Verona) for assistance in the synthesis of the samples and Yulya Khatchenko (UrFU, Ekaterinburg) for assistance in the processing the experimental data. F. P. and M. B. thank the Facility “Centro Piattaforme Tecnologiche” of the University of Verona for access to the Thermo ARL X’TRA powder diffractometer

Intrinsic and defect related luminescence in double oxide films of Al-Hf-O system under soft X-ray and VUV excitation

Low temperature time-resolved luminescence spectra in the region of 2.5-9.5 eV under soft X-ray excitation as well as time-resolved luminescence excitation spectra in the UV-VUV region (3.7-12 eV) of solid solutions AlxHfyO1-x-y thin films were investigated. The values of x and Al/Hf ratio were determined from X-ray photoelectron srectroscopy data. Hafnia films and films mixed with alumina were grown in a flow-type chemical vapor deposition reactor with argon as a carrier gas. In addition, pure alumina films were prepared by the atomic layer deposition method. A strong emission band with the peak position at 4.4 eV and with the decay time in the μs-range was revealed for pure hafnia films. The emission peak at 7.74 eV with short nanosecond decay kinetics was observed in the luminescence spectra for pure alumina films. These emission bands were ascribed to the radiative decay of self-trapped excitons (an intrinsic luminescence) in pure HfO2 and Al2O3 films, respectively. Along with intrinsic host emission, defect related luminescence bands with a larger Stokes shift were observed. In the emission spectra of the solid solution films (x=4; 17; 20 at%) the intrinsic emission bands are quenched and only the luminescence of defects (an anion vacancies) was observed. Based on transformation of the luminescence spectra and ns-luminescence decay kinetics, as well as changes in the time-resolved luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra, the relaxation processes in the films of solid solution are discussed. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Luminescence and radiation defects in irradiated ruby

The excitations of luminescence in irradiated and non-irradiated ruby crystals are investigated by means of highly polarized synchrotron radiation. In the VUV luminescence spectra the existence of quick and slow emission was observed in irradiated and nonirradiated crystals. The luminescence bands with maximum at 3.8 eV are produced by F+ centers. A new type of quick luminescence was established for the band at 4.6 eV. It is called cross-luminescence and is connected with the recombination of valence band electrons with holes in low-lying core levels. It is shown that the band at 3.0 eV is not due to anionic centers (F-centers), but is determined by a short lifetime emission center