Growth, optical and EPR properties of Li1.72Na0.28Ge4O9 single crystals pure and slightly doped with Cr

Abstract

AbstractSingle 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.