Evidence of the Excitation of Mn2+ Spin-Dependent Photoluminescence in Manganese-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnets

Abstract

Mn²⁺ ions in yttrium positions have been studied by means of optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) via Mn²⁺ spin-dependent emission in manganese-doped yttrium aluminum garnet crystals. It was shown that the intensity of photoluminescence excited by circularly polarized light depends on the population of the spin sublevels of the Mn²⁺ ground state and therefore can be used to study the ODMR. EPR measurements have confirmed that Mn²⁺ ions in the crystals under study occupy preferentially dodecahedral positions in the YAG lattice. Observation of forbidden transitions in the ODMR spectra has proved that the observed ODMR signals belong to Mn²⁺. Thus the wavelength dependence of the ODMR amplitude reveals the emission band of Mn²⁺ ions at dodecahedral positions in YAG:Mn.