Fluoreszenz der magnetisch ordnenden Halbleiter EuS, EuSe und EuTe

Abstract

The photoluminescence properties of the europium-chalcogenides EuS, EuSe and EuTe are described. Below approximately 150°K these compounds show a characteristic near-infrared fluorescence band with a half-width of about 0.25 eV. This radiative recombination is ascribed to an intrinsic transition 4f 6 5d→4f 7 of the Eu-ions. Its important frequency shift with respect to the corresponding optical absorption in the vicinity of the absorption edge is due to a Franck-Condon-type relaxation process. The spectral band position and the quantum efficiency of the emission are found to be very sensitive to magnetic ordering. Within the series of substances the different kind of magnetic order is clearly illustrated by the dissimilar spontaneous fluorescence behaviour: On cooling, the ferromagnet EuS displays a red shift and a quenching of the emission nearT c, whereas the antiferromagnet EuTe shows a blue shift of the band and an increase of its intensity nearT N. With respect to this behaviour in zero field an applied magnetic field causes the fluorescence to be quenched and shifted towards longer wavelengths. The largest response to the field is observed in the vicinity of the ordering temperatures and in the metamagnetic temperature range of EuSe. The results are discussed in connection with measurements of the magnetization, the optical absorption and the photoconductivity and compared with fluorescence measurements on Eu(II)-silicates. The behaviour of the excitation spectra is closely related to the absorption edge shift. On the other hand the shift of the emission is not similarly discribed by the mean ion spin correlation. We propose to ascribe this to a magnetic relaxation in the vicinity of the excited state. The unusual intensity behaviour is also discussed.