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Title: Crystalfield symmetries of luminescent Eu{sup 3+} centers in GaN: The importance of the {sup 5}D{sub 0} to {sup 7}F{sub 1} transition

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4939631· OSTI ID:22489282
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. SUPA Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, 107 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0NG, Scotland (United Kingdom)
  2. Department of Mathematical and Design Engineering, Gifu University, Gifu 501-1193 (Japan)
  3. IPFN, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela LRS (Portugal)
  4. Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FS, England (United Kingdom)
  5. Institute of High Pressure Physics PAS, Sokolowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw (Poland)

Eu-doped GaN is a promising material with potential application not only in optoelectronics but also in magneto-optical and quantum optical devices “beyond the light emitting diode.” Its interesting spectroscopy is unfortunately complicated by spectral overlaps due to “site multiplicity,” the existence in a given sample of multiple composite centers in which Eu ions associate with intrinsic or extrinsic defects. We show here that elementary crystalfield analysis of the {sup 5}D{sub 0} to {sup 7}F{sub 1} transition can critically distinguish such sites. Hence, we find that the center involved in the hysteretic photochromic switching observed in GaN(Mg):Eu, proposed as the basis of a solid state qubit material, is not in fact Eu1, as previously reported, but a related defect, Eu1(Mg). Furthermore, the decomposition of the crystalfield distortions of Eu0, Eu1(Mg), and Eu1 into axial and non-axial components strongly suggests reasonable microscopic models for the defects themselves.

OSTI ID:
22489282
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 2; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English