Investigations of the spin-Hamiltonian parameters for Er³⁺ ions in AlN crystal

Abstract

The spin-Hamiltonian parameters (g factor g _//, g _⊥ and hyperfine structure constants A _//, A _⊥) for Er³⁺ ion at the trigonal Al³⁺ site of AlN crystal are calculated by diagonalising the 52 × 52 energy matrix. The matrix are related to the ground mutiplet ⁴I_15/2 and the first to third excited multiplets ⁴I_13/2, ⁴I_11/2 and ⁴I_9/2 for 4f¹¹ ions in trigonal crystal field under an external magnetic field. The crystal-field parameters used in the matrix are obtained from the superposition model and the local lattice relaxation due to the substitution of Er³⁺ for Al³⁺ is considered. The calculated spin-Hamiltonian parameters are in reasonable agreement with the experimental values and the signs of hyperfine structure constants are suggested. The results are discussed.

Keywords:

• spin-Hamiltonian parameters
• crystal-field theory
• diagonalisation (of energy matrix) method
• Er³⁺
• AlN

Acknowledgements

This project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 60890203).