The distribution coefficients of rare earth ions in cubic zirconium dioxide

Abstract

Cubic zirconium dioxide crystals are grown with the skull melting technique. The effective distribution coefficients for Nd 3+, Sm 3+ and Er 3+ as dopants are determined experimentally as a function of the crystal growth velocity. With the Burton-Prim-Slichter theory, the equilibrium distribution coefficients can be calculated. The distribution coefficients of all other trivalent rare earth ions can be estimated by applying the correlation towards the ionic radii.