Ionic size dependence of distribution coefficient for rare-earth dopants in YVO4 crystal

Abstract

This paper reports a systematic study of distribution coefficient in YVO4 for the entire series of trivalent rare-earth dopants (RE = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and Sc). For this aim, single crystals for each RE dopant were flux-grown under a fixed condition, with the starting ratio of Y0.9RE0.1. The compositions of the grown crystals were then determined using inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. The distribution coefficient is close to 1 when the size mismatch between the dopant ion and the host Y3+ ion is within about ±3%, and drops off in a similar manner for both larger and smaller dopants. The distribution coefficients for the largest (La3+) and smallest (Sc3+) dopants are 0.2 and 0.07, respectively.