Magnetic susceptibility and ordering of Yb and Er in phosphors Yb,Er:Lu2O3

Abstract Mixed sesquioxides (Lu 0.9 Er 0.1 ) 2 O 3 and (Lu 0.9 Yb 0.1 ) 2 O 3 were prepared and analyzed by the XRD and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The samples crystallize in the space group Ia 3 ¯ with a byxbyite structure type. The structure refinement have shown that Er 3+ exclusively occupy C 2 sites in (Lu 0.9 Er 0.1 ) 2 O 3 , while Yb 3+ are preferentially distributed in C 3 i sites in (Lu 0.9 Yb 0.1 ) 2 O 3 . Magnetic susceptibility data in the whole 2–300 K temperature region was analyzed by the model based on perturbation theory. The mean energy gap between ground and some of the excited crystal field levels ( E i ), and their effective magnetic numbers M ieff were determined. The obtained energy levels are compared with theoretical values, and discussed in relation to the cation distribution. An analysis of paramagnetic temperature has shown absence of magnetic ion clustering.