Optical spectroscopy and density functional calculations of chromium(V)-doped YVO4 and YPO4: influence of the second coordination sphere

An embedded cluster CASPT2 study of the Ce:YVO4 spectrum

Multiconfigurational theory, in combination with the embedded cluster approach, is a precise and ab initio approach to describe the electronic structure of solids. In this work, the spectrum of a Ce(III) dopant in YVO4 has been studied by complete active space perturbation theory of the second order (CASPT2), with the host material represented as a set of ab initio model potentials and point-charges. We assess the sensitivity of the spectrum to the size of both the embedded cluster size as well as the size of the electronic basis set. A comparison of our best computational model with experimental results shows that the embedding approach is robust and can accurately model the spectrum of low-concentration dopants in complex host materials.

Nature of transport gap and magnetic order in zircon and scheelite type DyCrO4 from first principles

Our first principles density functional theory calculations within GGA + U approximation reveal that the nature of transport gaps in the zircon and scheelite phases of DyCrO(4) are quite different. While in the scheelite phase the origin of the gap is more like that of the Mott-Hubbard systems, in the zircon phase the origin is not strictly a Mott-Hubbard or a charge transfer type. In the framework of the Zaanen-Sawatsky-Allen phase diagram, the DyCrO(4) in its zircon phase could be placed in the intermediate regime between the charge transfer and Mott-Hubbard insulators. On the issue of ground state magnetic order in these two phases, where no consensus exists so far from experimental observations, we have performed GGA and GGA + U calculations on various possible magnetic configurations. We clearly establish from our theoretical calculations that the ferrimagnetic order, where ferromagnetic Dy and Cr sublattice are aligned antiparallel to each other, is the ground state in the zircon phase, while in the scheelite phase competing long-range antiferromagnetic orders are observed. Our estimation of various superexchange interactions indicate that competing ferro- and antiferro-magnetic interactions exist which would explain the experimental observation of metamagnetic transitions on application of a small external magnetic field in these systems.

Tunable luminescence of Bi(3+)-doped YP(x)V(1-x)O4 (0 ≤ x ≤1)

A systematic investigation of the luminescence spectroscopy of Y(P,V)O4:Bi(3+) is presented. The emission spectra and the decay curves are measured as a function of the host morphology, composition, temperature, excitation wavelength, and doping concentration. On this basis, the nature of the excited states and the radiative and non-radiative relaxation processes are discussed. Colour coordinates and quantum yield measurements are also carried out to provide information about the potential applications of the studied materials.