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In this paper, ab initio calculations are used to determine polarization difference in zinc blende (ZB), hexagonal (H) and wurtzite (WZ) AlN-GaN and GaN-InN superlattices. It is shown that a polarization difference exists between WZ nitride compounds, while for H and ZB lattices the results are consistent with zero polarization difference. It is therefore proven that the difference in Berry phase spontaneous polarization for bulk nitrides (AlN, GaN and InN) obtained by Bernardini et al. and Dreyer et al. was not caused by the different reference phase. These models provided absolute values of the polarization that differed by more than one order of magnitude for the same material, but they provided similar polarization differences between binary compounds, which agree also with our ab initio calculations. In multi-quantum wells (MQWs), the electric fields are generated by the well-barrier polarization difference, hence, the calculated electric fields are similar for the three models, both for GaN/AlN and InN/GaN structures. Including piezoelectric effect, which can account for 50% of the total polarization difference, these theoretical data are in satisfactory agreement with photoluminescence measurements in GaN/AlN MQWs. Therefore, the three models considered above are equivalent in the treatment of III-nitride MQWs and can be equally used for the description of the electric properties of active layers in nitride-based optoelectronic devices.

High pressure studies of monoclinic yttrium aluminum oxide single crystals (Y4Al2O9 -YAM) doped with Ce3+ ions grown by micro-pulling-down method are reported. The results of absorption measurements in the mid-infrared prove the existence of four different sites in which Ce3+ ions substitute Y ions, in accordance with the crystallographic structure of YAM. The lowest 5d level of Ce3+ is located very close to the bottom of the conduction band for two of four Ce3+ related centers at ambient pressure, which results in strong temperature quenching of their luminescence. Two other Ce3+ centers do not emit at ambient pressure since their 5d levels are resonant with the conduction band. Application of high pressure above 11 GPa restores their luminescence. Consequences of such energy structure of various Ce3+ sites in YAM for the Dorenbos theory are discussed. The bandgap energy of YAM is found to be 5.93 eV, which is the smallest out of the three yttrium aluminum oxides. High-pressure synchrotron angle dispersive x-ray diffraction and Raman scattering measurements identify a phase transition occurring at pressures between 8 and 11 GPa, which has martensitic character. The second phase transition to another structure (likely with hexagonal symmetry) occurs at a pressure around 16 GPa.

International audience; Quantum well systems based on semiconductors with the wurtzite crystalline structure have found widespread applications in photonics and optoelectronic devices, such as light-emitting diodes, laser diodes, or single-photon emitters. In these structures, the radiative recombination processes can be affected by (i) the presence of strain and polarization-induced electric fields, (ii) quantum well thickness fluctuations and blurring of a well–barrier interface, and (iii) the presence of dislocations and native point defects (intentional and unintentional impurities). A separate investigation of these phenomena is not straightforward since they give rise to similar effects, such as a decrease of luminescence efficiency and decay rate, enhancement of the Stokes shift, and strong blueshift of the emission with increasing pump intensity. In this Perspective article, we review the usefulness of measurements of the quantum well luminescence as a function of the hydrostatic pressure for both scientific research and the development of light-emitting technologies. The results presented here show that high-pressure investigations combined with ab initio calculations can identify the nature of optical transitions and the main physical factors affecting the radiative efficiency in quantum well systems. Finally, we will discuss an outlook to the further possibilities to gain new knowledge about the nature of recombination processes in quantum wells using high-pressure spectroscopy.

A multiple-quantum-well structure consisting of 40 periods of AlN/GaN:Si was investigated using a transmission electron microscope equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The thicknesses of the AlN barriers and the GaN quantum wells were 4 nm and 6 nm, respectively. The QW layers were doped with Si to a concentration of 1.3 × 10 19 c m - 3 (0.012 % at). The procedure for quantifying such a doping level using AlN as a standard is presented. The EDS results (0.013 % at) are compared with secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements (0.05 % at).

An analysis of the main recombination modes in nitrides, based on new method of data treatment is proposed for the determination of the carrier recombination processes in optically excited matter measured by time-resolved photoluminescence (PL). The analysis includes basic recombination modes: nonradiative Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH), radiative and Auger recombination in relation to monomolecular, bi-molecular, and tri-molecular processes of optical relaxation. The method is based on the introduction of instantaneous PL decay rate r P L plotted as a function of the PL intensity or of the time. Such an approach provides deep insight into the time evolution of the recombination of the optically excited semiconductor systems and can be applied to the time evolution of a variety of optically excited systems. The demonstration of its strength is given by the application to III-nitride based systems, including nitride highly doped and semi-insulating thick layers, polar and non-polar multi-quantum wells (MQWs). At low temperatures (5 K), the mono- and bi-molecular processes determine the carrier relaxation, and the tri-molecular Auger recombination contribution is negligible. At room temperature the data indicate an important contribution of Auger processes. It is also shown that asymptotic (low excitation), one-exponential recombination rate has different character depending on the presence of the electric fields across the structure.

Perovskites, garnets, monoclinic forms, and lately also oxyhydroxides doped with rare-earth ions have been drawn large attention due to their beneficial optical and photovoltaic properties. In this work, we have shown that several forms of crystals from Y–Al–O family can be synthesized using microwave driven hydrothermal technique using different pH and post-growth annealing at different temperatures. The structural and optical properties of these crystals were investigated as a function of hydrothermal crystallization conditions. For this purpose, x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence, and photoluminescence excitation studies were performed. All the structures have been doped with Eu3+ ions which are known as a local symmetry sensor because various symmetries generate different crystal fields and thus affect their luminescence spectra. The optical properties of the obtained nanoparticles in correlation with their structure and chemical composition are discussed.

Studies of ambient-pressure and high-pressure behaviour of photoluminescence (PL) as well as the phase transition pressure from wurtzite to cubic structure for a series of Zn 1−x Mg x O alloys as a function of the Mg-content x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.34) are presented. The measured PL peak energy is shown to increase approximately linearly with increasing magnesium content from 3.36 eV to 4.11 eV, and the phase transition pressure from wurtzite to cubic structure decreases with increasing x from 12.6 GPa to 5.9 GPa. The phase transition is accompanied by a strong decrease of the near band-gap PL intensity. The value of the PL peak pressure coefficient d E PL /d p changes non-monotonically. It varies between 18.6 meV/GPa and 25.2 meV/GPa, and seems to depend on the layer thickness rather than on the layer composition, exhibiting strong scattering for several alloys with similar magnesium content. This behaviour can be due to the stabilizing influence of sapphire substrate, as is indicated both by the pressure coefficients and by the values of pressure of phase transition from wurtzite to rock salt structure in Zn 1−x Mg x O layers with the same or similar composition and different layer thicknesses.

We report defect-related photoluminescence (PL) and its vacuum ultraviolet photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra of aluminum nitride layers with various layer thicknesses and dislocation densities grown on two different substrates: sapphire and silicon. The defect-related transitions have been distinguished and examined in the emission and excitation spectra investigated under synchrotron radiation. The broad PL bands of two defect levels in the AlN were detected at around 3 eV and 4 eV. In the PLE spectra of these bands, a sharp excitonic peak originating most probably from the A-exciton of AlN was clearly visible. Taking into account the exciton binding energy, the measurements allow determination of the bandgaps of the investigated AlN samples and their temperature dependencies. Next, they are compared with the literature data obtained by other experimental techniques for bulk AlN crystals and layers grown on different substrates. The obtained results revealed that the AlN bandgap depends on the substrate. The theoretical analysis using density functional theory calculations showed that the effect is induced by the tetragonal strain related to the lattice mismatch between the substrate and the AlN layer, which has a strong influence on the spectral positions of the intrinsic excitons, and consequently on the bandgap of AlN layers.

Studies of internal electric fields in GaN/AlxGa1-xN (3 nm/4 nm) multi-quantum-wells (MQWs) with x = 0.25, 0.5, and 1 are presented. The structures were grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy and characterized by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Optical properties of these structures were investigated by ambient and high-pressure photoluminescence (PL) measurements. They were strongly affected by polarization-induced electric fields giving rise to a quantum confined Stark effect, depending on the composition of the AlGaN barrier. The optical emission energy redshifts by > 100 meV when the Al content in the barrier increases from x = 0.25 up to x = 1, while the pressure coefficients of the PL energy are significantly reduced in comparison with bulk GaN. The transition energies and their pressure dependencies are modelled for tetragonally strained structures with the same geometry using a full tensorial representation of the strain in the MQWs under external pressure. The same MQWs are also simulated using density functional theory calculations. Additionally, influence of blurring of well-barrier interface on transition energy has been modelled. A good agreement between experimental results and theoretical analysis indicates that nonlinear effects induced by the tetragonal strain due to the lattice mismatch between the substrates and the polar MQWs are responsible for a drastic decrease of the pressure coefficients of PL energy, and that these effects are well described by ab initio calculation procedures. Our results reflect the role of composition and geometry on the basic optical properties of nitride quantum wells.

Results of X-ray diffraction and low temperature optical absorption measurements of cerium doped gadolinium gallium garnet single crystals and epitaxial layers are reported. In the region of intra-configurational 4f–4f transitions the spectra of the bulk crystals exhibit the signatures of several different Ce 3+ related centers. Apart from the dominant center, associated with Ce substituting gadolinium, at least three other centers are found, some of them attributed to the so-called antisite locations of rare-earth ions in the garnet host, i.e., in the Ga positions. X-ray diffraction data prove lattice expansion of bulk GGG crystals due to the presence of rare-earth antisites. The concentration of the additional Ce-related centers in epitaxial layers is much lower than in the bulk crystals. However, the Ce-doped layers incorporate a large amount of Pb from flux, which is the most probable source of nonradiative quenching of Ce luminescence, not observed in crystals grown by the Czochralski method.

International audience

Spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization in the nitrides is analyzed. The slab model was designed and proved to be appropriate to obtain the spontaneous polarization in AlN, GaN and InN. The spontaneous polarization and polarization related electric fields in AlN, GaN and InN were determined using DFT slab calculations. The procedure generates single value of spontaneous polarization in the nitrides. It was shown that Berry phase polarization may be applied to determination of spontaneous polarization by appropriate addition of polarization induced electric fields. The electric fields obtained from slab model are consistent with the Berry phase results of Bernardini et al. The obtained spontaneous polarization values are: 8.69*10-3 C/m2, 1.88*10-3 C/m2, and 1.96*10-3 C/m2 for AlN, GaN and InN respectively. The related Berry phase polarization values are 8.69*10-2 C/m2, 1.92*10-2 C/m2, and 2.86*10-2 C/m2, for these three compounds, respectively. The GaN/AlN multiquantum wells (MQWs) were simulated using ab intio calculations. The obtained electric fields are in good agreement with those derived from bulk polarization values. GaN/AlN MQWs structures, obtained by MBE growth were characterized by TEM and X-ray measurements. Time dependent photoluminescence measurements were used to determine optical transition energies in these structures. The PL obtained energies are in good agreement with ab initio data confirming overall agreement between theoretical and experimental data.

Low temperature, infrared transmission spectra of lutetium aluminum garnet (LuAG) bulk crystals and epitaxial layers doped with Ce are presented. In the region of intra-configurational 4f–4f transitions the spectra of the bulk LuAG crystal exhibit the signatures of several different Ce3+ related centers. Apart from the dominant center, associated with Ce substituting lutetium, at least six other centers are found, some of them attributed to so-called antisite locations of rare-earth ions in the garnet host, i.e., ions in the Al positions. X-ray diffraction data prove lattice expansion of bulk LuAG crystals due presence of rare-earth antisites.

This work is focused on the electrical and optical analyses used to estimate the activation energy of the dominant shallow donor in thin ZnO films obtained at low temperature by the atomic layer deposition process. These two approaches, based on the temperature-dependent classical Hall effect and photoluminescence investigations, yielded a donor activation energy ED in the range of 30–40 meV, including the estimated error margins. This value, as confirmed by layer composition studies, is attributed to the presence of zinc atoms in the interstitial positions of the ZnO lattice.

The present article presents technology, required for repeatable manufacturing of the 1.5 and 2 inch crystal rods of (Cd, Mn)Te is discussed. In order to obtain semiinsultaing crystals, compensation and annealing in Cd-vapours was used. Vanadium was mainly used as the compensating dopant. The resistivity of the obtained monocrystalline plates was around 109 Ω cm, and the μτ-product was about 10-3 cm2/V. Mapping of the resistivity was performed on both as-grown crystals and the crystals annealed in the saturated Cd vapour. As-grown (undoped) crystals were inhomogeneous and their resistivities were in the range 105 -106 Ω cm. After annealing resistivity increased up to 1 -2 ·109 Ω cm and better homogeneity could be seen. Annealing in saturated Cd-vapours had influence on tellurium inclusions/precipitates. It was studied by IR transmission microscopy. For as-grown samples the density of Te inclusions (> 1 μm) was ≈ 3 ·105 cm-3 but for annealed samples was ≈ 104 cm -3. The concentrations (measured by SIMS) of the unintentional impurities Na, Ca, and Ga were in the region 1015 - 1016 cm-3, corresponding well with the purity (6N) of the elements used for crystallization of our (Cd, Mn)Te. The low temperature photoluminescence (PL) measurements indicated significantly lowered concentrations of acceptors after annealing. Nearly ohmic contacts to the high resistivity (Cd, Mn)Te plates were obtained by deposition of the amorphous layers of heavily doped semiconductor (ZnTe:Sb). We undertook the present work to show that low vanadium doping level and proper annealing conditions are sufficient to obtain detector grade material.

The results of comprehensive theoretical and experimental study of binary GaN/AlN multi-quantum well (MQW) systems oriented along polar c-direction of their wurtzite structure are presented. A series of structures with quantum wells and barriers of various thicknesses were grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy and characterized by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was shown that in general the structures of good quality were obtained, with the defect density decreasing with increasing quantum well thickness. The optical transition energies in these structures were investigated comparing experimental measurements with ab initio calculations of the entire GaN/AlN MQW structure depending on the QW widths and strains, allowing for direct determination of the energies of optical transitions and the electric fields in wells/barriers by electric potential double averaging procedure. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements revealed that the emission efficiency as well as the shape o...

Luminescence properties of CdTe and CdSe quantum dots have been studied under high hydrostatic pressure. The luminescence pressure coefficients of the II–VI quantum dots appear to be very similar to the pressure coefficients of the band-gap of bulk CdTe and CdSe, respectively. In contrary to that, the luminescence pressure coefficients of the III–V quantum dots are significantly lower than pressure coefficients of energy gaps of the appropriate dot materials. The discrepancy can be explained by the theoretical model, which takes into account effects of strain on pressure coefficients in thin strained layers. The experimentally observed pressure-induced quenching of the QDs luminescence is attributed to the “zinc-blende–cinnabar” phase transition in CdTe QDs and to the “zinc-blende–rock-salt” phase transition in CdSe QDs.

Single crystals of lithium-sodium-tetragermanate, a member of the solid solution series Li2−xNaxGe4O9 with x=0.28, pure and slightly doped with Cr3+ ions (0.03 mol.% and 0.1 mol.%), were grown in ambient atmosphere by the Czochralski technique from stoichiometric melt. The crystals with dimensions up to 20 mm in diameter and 50 mm in length were obtained. The crystal structure has been determined by means of X-ray diffraction. Phase analysis and structural refinement of the Li1.72Na0.28Ge4O9 crystals were performed by X-ray powder diffraction using Ni-filtered Cu Kα radiation with a Siemens D5000 diffractometer. The absorption, excitation and photoluminescence spectra of the crystals were measured in the UV-VIS and IR range at low temperatures. EPR investigations were performed using a conventional X-band Bruker ELEXSYS E 500 CW-spectrometer operating at 9.5 GHz with 100 kHz magnetic field modulation. Temperature and angular dependences of the EPR spectra of the crystal samples were recorded in the 3–300 K temperature range.

The single-phase perovskite structure of the Ba0.95Pb0.05TiO3+0.1%Co2O3 ceramics was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction method. Microstructural studies revealed that the samples were of good quality and chemically homogeneous. The thermal behaviour of ceramics was studied using the in situ high-temperature X-ray synchrotron powder diffraction investigation. The energy gap of about 3.2 eV was estimated using a reflectance spectroscopy. Measurements showed the influence of Pb and Co on the character of phase transition in the BaTiO3 structure. The results were compared to the ones obtained for pure BaTiO3.

Effective acceptor doping of wide-band-gap semiconductors is still an outstanding problem. Beryllium has been suggested as a shallow acceptor in GaN, but despite sporadic announcements, Be-induced p-type doping has never been practically realized. Be-doped GaN possesses two luminescence bands; one at 3.38 eV and a second near 2.2 eV at an energy close to that of the parasitic yellow luminescence often found in undoped GaN crystals. We have performed high hydrostatic pressure studies of bulk, Be-doped gallium nitride crystals using the diamond anvil cell technique. We observed a splitting of the yellow luminescence line under hydrostatic pressure into two components, one which is strongly dependent on applied pressure and another whose pressure dependence is more modest. Together with hybrid functional calculations, we attribute the strongly-varying component to the beryllium–oxygen complex. The second component of the yellow luminescence possesses very similar pressure behavior to the yellow luminescence observed in undoped samples grown by the same method, behavior which we find consistent with the CN acceptor. At higher pressure, we observe the vanishing of yellow luminescence and a rapid increase in luminescence intensity of the UV line. We explain this as the pressure-induced transformation of the Be–O complex from a highly localized state with large lattice relaxation to a delocalized state with limited lattice relaxation.

Low-temperature infrared spectra reveal multicenter nature of the Ce 3+ dopant in various Czochralski grown garnets, perovskite crystals, and YAG transparent glass. Some of these multicenters are associated with antisite defects, i.e. rare-earth ions substituting smaller cations in different crystallographic positions. The antisite defects have detrimental effect on the scintillation properties of these materials. The epitaxially-grown from flux layers of these materials contain much smaller amount of these defects due to low temperature of growth.

Results of EPR and optical studies of chromium ions substituting niobium that undergoes photo-bleaching in LiNbO3:Cr,MgO crystals are reported. Two-component kinetics of photo-bleaching are observed in EPR and optical measurements. The different CrNb centers exhibit very similar EPR signals in lithium niobate crystals. The possible mechanisms of different photo-bleaching kinetics are proposed.

Low temperature, infrared absorption spectra of gadolinium gallium garnet crystals doped with Ce are presented. In the region of intraconfigurational 4$f$-4$f$ transitions the spectra exhibit existence of at least two different, major Ce${}^{3+}$ related centers in the GGG crystals and also some other centers at lower concentration. The spectrum of 4$f$-4$f$ intrashell transitions of Ce${}^{3+}$ ions extends up to about 3700 cm${}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ due to the large splitting of the ${}^{2}$${F}_{7/2}$ excited state. In the visible region the absorption spectrum shows influence of symmetry-related selection rules. The absorption coefficient changes in the region of 4${f}^{1}$-5${d}^{1}$ transitions due to thermal population of the second level, belonging to the ${}^{2}$${F}_{5/2}$ ground state. This suggests that the symmetry of the site occupied by Ce${}^{3+}$ ions, which substitute Gd${}^{3+}$, is higher than ${D}_{2}$ expected for garnet hosts.

High-pressure and time-resolved studies of the optical emission from n-type doped GaN/AlN multi-quantum-wells (MQWs) with various well thicknesses are analysed in comparison with ab initio calculations of the electronic (band structure, density of states) and optical (emission energies and their pressure derivatives, oscillator strength) properties. The optical properties of GaN/AlN MQWs are strongly affected by quantum confinement and polarization-induced electric fields. Thus, the photoluminescence (PL) peak energy decreases by over 1 eV with quantum well (QW) thicknesses increasing from 1 to 6 nm. Furthermore, the respective PL decay times increased from about 1 ns up to 10 μs, due to the strong built-in electric field. It was also shown that the band gap pressure coefficients are significantly reduced in MQWs as compared to bulk AlN and GaN crystals. Such coefficients are strongly dependent on the geometric factors such as the thickness of the wells and barriers. The transition energies, their oscilla...

Molecular beam epitaxy growth and basic physical properties of quaternary AlInGaN layers, sufficiently thick for construction of electron blocking layers (EBL), embedded in ternary InGaN layers are presented. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurement revealed good crystallographic structure and compositional uniformity of the quaternary layers contained in other nitride layers, which are typical for construction of nitride based devices. The AlInGaN layer was epitaxially compatible to InGaN matrix, strained, and no strain related dislocation creation was observed. The strain penetrated for limited depth, below 3 nm, even for relatively high content of indium (7%). For lower indium content (0.6%), the strain was below the detection limit by TEM strain analysis. The structures containing quaternary AlInGaN layers were studied by time dependent photoluminescence (PL) at different temperatures and excitation powers. It was shown that PL spectra contain three peaks: high energy donor bound exciton pea...

Studies of the spectroscopic properties of Ce3+ dopant in bulk Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 :Ce crystal under pressure are presented. In spite of strong inter-shell 4f → 5d absorption bands at ambient pressure the cerium luminescence in Gd 3 Ga 5 O 12 is entirely quenched even at low temperature. It has been shown that applying pressure allows for recovering the 5d → 4f radiative transitions. Further increase of pressure improves the emission efficiency. This effect is analyzed in terms of two possible phenomena: (i) by pressure-induced electronic crossover of the excited 5d energy level of the Ce3+ with the conduction band bottom of host crystal, and (ii) by decrease of electron-lattice coupling with increasing pressure, resulting in reducing of Stokes shift and non-radiative transitions between the low vibrational levels of the 5d state and high vibrational levels of the ground 4f state.

Studies of the spectroscopic properties of Ce${}^{3+}$ dopant in bulk Gd${}_{3}$Ga${}_{5}$O${}_{12}$:Ce crystal under pressure are presented. In spite of strong intershell $4f\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5d$ absorption bands at ambient pressure, the cerium luminescence in Gd${}_{3}$Ga${}_{5}$O${}_{12}$ is entirely quenched even at low temperature. It has been shown that applying pressure allows for recovery of the $5d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}4f$ radiative transitions. Further increase of pressure improves the emission efficiency. This effect is analyzed in terms of two possible phenomena: (i) by pressure-induced electronic crossover of the excited 5$d$ energy level of the Ce${}^{3+}$ with the conduction band bottom of the host crystal, and (ii) by decrease of electron-lattice coupling with increasing pressure, resulting in reduction of the Stokes shift and nonradiative transitions between the low vibrational levels of the 5$d$ state and high vibrational levels of the ground 4$f$ state. The results of high-pressure absorption and luminescence measurements point out that the ambient-pressure luminescence quenching is caused by the donor-like charge transfer processes due to the resonant location of the Ce${}^{3+}$ 5$d$ electronic levels with respect to the host conduction band. In such a situation, the ionization of Ce${}^{3+}$ to Ce${}^{4+}$ occurs, accompanied by large lattice relaxation, which enables the nonradiative recombination to the Ce 4$f$ state. The pressure-induced approach of the conduction-band bottom of the host crystal by the excited 5$d$ energy level of the Ce${}^{3+}$ results in mixing between conduction band states and the 5$d$ state, and the broadband luminescence from this mixed state is observed at pressures from 30 up to about 60 kbar. Then, for pressures exceeding 60 kbar, this luminescence is replaced by the classic ${\mathrm{Ce}}^{3+}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}5d\ensuremath{\rightarrow}4f$ transitions. Using a simple anticrossing model and configuration coordinate model in the appropriate pressure range, quantitative description of the system has been carried out, and the pressure-induced decrease of electron-lattice coupling has been shown.

The pressure-induced changes in the electronic band structures of In-containing nitride alloys, InxGa1-xN and InxAl1-xN are examined experimentally as well as by ab initio calculations. It is found that the band gap pressure coefficients, dEg/dp, exhibit very large bowing with x, and calculations with simulation of clustered distributions of the In atoms over the cation sites show a strong enhancement of this effect. This relates well to the experimental data obtained from pressure dependent photoluminescence measurements for InxGa1-xN and InxAl1-xN layers, performed in this work, and combined with existing data for InxGa1-xN layers. We discuss possible explanations of the anomalously large magnitude of the dEg/dp bowing in these nitride alloys.

Low temperature infrared absorption in the region of intra–shell 4f-4f transitions of Ce3+ ions in bulk yttrium gallium garnet crystals reveals existence of different Ce3+ centers. In addition to the major center, related to Ce substituting yttrium, at least two other centers exist, most probably attributed to the rare-earth antisites, i.e. rare-earth ions at the Ga crystallographic positions. Temperature dependence of the visible absorption related to the 4f-5d transitions shows influence of thermal population of the second higher-lying level of the 2F5/2 ground state, located 159 cm−1 above the lowest level. 5d→4f luminescence of Ce3+ is observed at elevated pressure and shows signatures of pressure-induced crossing of the lowest 5d state of Ce3+ with the conduction band states.

The radiative deexcitation probability of the 2 F5/2→ 2 F7/2 transitions within the 4f electronic shell of the Yb 3+ ion in LiNbO3 exhibits at low temperatures a strong increase with increase of hydrostatic pressure up to 250 kbar. At the same time only a very small, almost negligible, decrease of the transition energy with pressure is observed. These results are explained by coupling of the 4f 13 with the 4f 12 5d 1 electronic configurations and increase of the coupling coefficient with pressure. The mechanism of this process is discussed.

Selective R-line emission of the Cr31 ions in near stoichiometric LiNbO3 crystals codoped with MgO has been studied at low temperature under excitation into the 4A2!4T1 transition. The emission intensity of R lines associated with Cr31 ions located in Nb51 sites, @Cr#Nb centers, was observed to decrease with the illumination time, whereas those ascribed to other Cr31 ions, such as those located in the Li site, @Cr#Li centers, are optically stable. The selective bleaching is explained by considering the photoinization of Cr31 ions in Nb sites and the formation of Nb41 complexes ~small polaron!.

Low-temperature luminescence measurements under high pressures in diamond-anvil cell of nonstoichiometric lanthanum lutetium gallium garnet (LLGG) doped with Cr 3 + ions and nonintentionally with Nd 3 + ions are reported.Three nonequivalent Cr 3 + centers were found in the crystal using this technique. The results also reveal information about the electronic structure of different Cr 3 + centers in those crystals. Cr 3 + ions in a LLGG crystal experience a very low crystal field strength. The energy differences between the 4 T 2 and 2 E levels are negative, and equal to about - 1100 cm - for two of those centers and about -1500 cm - 1 for the third one. The spectral results were corroborated by a theoretical analysis of the luminescence decay times as a function of pressure, which allowed one to establish the exact values of the crystal-field parameter Dq at ambient pressure for those centers. The crystal exhibits a large inhomogeneous broadening of the R lines, associated with nonstoichiometry. In addition to the Cr 3 + luminescence also luminescence of Nd 3 + ions was detected in the LLGG crystals. One of the Nd 3 + luminescence lines, associated with the 4 F 3 / 2 4 I 9 / 2 transition. is strongly dependent on pressure, with a pressure coefficient equal to 0.96′0.02 cm - 1 /kbar, which makes this system interesting as a pressure gauge in the infrared region.

We present the nanocomposite carbonaceous-palladium (C-Pd) thin films prepared by physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) methods were used to study the topography, morphology and structure of carbon and palladium nanograins contained in these films. The quantitative analysis of the elemental composition of C-Pd films was determined by energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The initial PVD films were modified in a CVD quartz reactor using xylene (the mixture of isomers) as a modifying factor at different times (5, 10 and 30 minutes) at a constant temperature of 650°C in atmospheric pressure. It was observed that the average size of palladium nanograins increased with an increasing duration of modification process. The differences in microstructures observed in the CVD films modified at different times, affect their response in measurements of resistance changes in the gas containing H2 in various concentrations. All samples were measured by cathodoluminescence (CL) method. In CL studies a large amount of objects with high intensity of CL was found. Some of them show the emission bands both at 450 nm and 750 nm. Other reveals emission band only at 450 nm. CL observations show that Pd nanograins coated by graphite shells exhibit optical activity.

SrSi2O2N2oxynitride crystallizes in the P1 space group [1]. This compound is an excellent host for phosphors, due to its superior thermal and chemical stability and large energy bandgap. Eu-doped SrSi2O2N2can be used in green LEDs, and as a green component in phosphor mixtures; it is suitable, in particular, for white LEDs. For application in LEDs, the most important feature of SrSi2O2N2:Eu2+is the intense broadband luminescence at about 530 nm. In this study, high-pressure X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) experiments are used in order to experimentally determine, for the first time, the equation of state (EOS) of SrSi2O2N2:Eu2+. The studied sample, with Eu content of 2% was prepared by solid state reaction. The in situ XRD experiment was performed at the I711 beamline of MAXII synchrotron (Lund, Sweden) for a sample mounted in a diamond anvil cell, using hydrostatic compression conditions. The applied X-ray wavelength was 0.9917 Å. In the pressure range studied (up to 9.6 GPa) the triclinic structure is found to be conserved. Lattice parameters a, b and c decrease smoothly but slightly anisotropically as a function of applied pressure, whereas the angles α, β and γ vary marginally. The material is the most compressible in the b direction and the least compressible in the a direction. Angles α and γ are almost constant whereas the value of β angle slightly increases with rising pressure. The variation of unit cell volume with pressure served for determination of the Birch-Murnaghan EOS: the resulting bulk modulus value is 103(5) GPa. The present bulk modulus value is by 22% smaller than those reported for other oxonitridosilicates such as SrSiAl2O3N2and Ce4[Si4O4N6]O (131.9(1) GPa and 131(2) GPa, respectively) [2].

Low temperature, infrared, and visible-ultraviolet absorption spectra of yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) bulk crystals and epitaxial layers doped with Ce are presented. In the region of intra-configurational 4f–4f transitions, the spectra of the bulk YAG crystals exhibit existence of at least two different Ce3+ related centers, a major one associated with Ce in regular positions substituting yttrium and also additional center, due to so called antisite positions in the garnet host, i.e., ions in the Al positions. Crystal field analysis based on exchange charge model exhibit excellent agreement with the experimental data for major Ce3+ center.

The results of high-pressure, low-temperature luminescence measurements of three InAsP-based multiple quantum well structures are reported for application as pressure sensors for diamond anvil cells working in the near-infrared spectral range. The multiple quantum well structures exhibit a much higher pressure shift of the luminescence lines as compared with ruby, typically used as the pressure sensor for diamond anvil cell. However, the full width at half maximum of the quantum wells is much higher than that for ruby. This reduces the available sensitivity gain exhibited by the InAsP-based quantum wells, but the improvement is still 2–3 times higher than that of ruby. Three InAsP multiple quantum well samples were examined, which exhibited luminescence at various wavelengths. The wavelength shift of these samples could be calibrated using similar parameters.

The results of high-pressure low-temperature optical measurements in a diamond-anvil cell of bulk gallium nitride crystals implanted with ytterbium are reported in combination with crystal field calculations of the Yb(3+) energy levels. Crystal field analysis of splitting of the (2)F(7/2) and (2)F(5/2) states has been performed, with the aim of assigning all features of the experimental luminescence spectra. A thorough analysis of the pressure behavior of the Yb(3+) luminescence lines in GaN allowed the determination of the ambient-pressure positions and pressure dependence of the Yb(3+) energy levels in the trigonal crystal field as well as the pressure-induced changes of the spin-orbit coupling coefficient.

Experimentally and theoretically determined elastic properties of gadolinium gallium garnet, Gd3Ga5O12, under high-pressure are reported. The x-ray diffraction part of the study was performed using a diamond-anvil cell at pressures up to 25 GPa, at conditions ascertaining hydrostatic compression up to about 10 GPa. The experimental bulk modulus, K0=169(15) GPa, and its first derivative, K0′=3.6(2.9), were derived from the diffraction data collected in pressure range limited to 10.2 GPa, assuming the Birch–Murnaghan equation of state. Ab initio calculations yielded K0=161(8) GPa and K0′=5.4(0.6) being in excellent agreement with the experiment.

Near-lattice-matched GaN/AlInN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) are investigated by means of the diamond anvil cell high-pressure technique. The hydrostatic pressure dependence of the photoluminescence dE(PL)/dp and the variation in the PL peak energy with the QW width for different pressures were measured. Taking into account the influence of a large Stokes shift on the correct determination of the built-in electric field value, we find that the electric field, equal to 4.2 +/- 1.1 MV/cm at ambient pressure, increases with pressure at a rate of 0.29 MV/(cm GPa). This value is in reasonable agreement with the theoretically predicted value, based on nonlinear elasticity, of 0.17 MV/(cm GPa). Interestingly, the observed behavior is very similar to strongly mismatched GaN/AlGaN QWs with a similar band offset, indicating that in GaN/AlInN QWs there is still a pressure dependence of piezoelectric effects, in spite of ambient-pressure lattice matching. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.2977608]

The hydrostatic pressure dependence of photoluminescence, dEPL/dp, of InxGa1−xN epilayers has been measured in the full composition range 0 0.4 and a relatively steep dependence for x

Pressure-induced shift of various luminescence lines of Nd3+-doped yttrium aluminum garnet crystal in the pressure range of 0–120kbars and temperatures between 10 and 300K is reported. Spectral positions of all these lines in the region of 900–960nm shift linearly towards lower energies with the pressure coefficient values from −0.01to−0.99cm−1∕kbar in the examined pressure range. Two of these lines have similar pressure coefficients than those of the R lines of Cr3+ in ruby. Therefore, they can be readily used for pressure calibration in diamond anvil cells.