EPR and luminescence of Mn²⁺ in distorted tetrahedral symmetry in CaZnF₄ crystals

Abstract

Abstract Small crystals of CaZnF 4 with scheelite‐type structure, doped with about 1% Mn are obtained from the melt by the Bridgman method with subsequent annealing at 725 °C, 50 K below a reversible phase transformation detected by DTA. Mn 2+ exclusively occupies Zn sites as evident from the size of the hyperfine splitting constant. The intrinsic zero field splitting parameter of second order obtained from superposition analysis is in the same range as that for [MnF 6 ] 4− units. The luminescence spectra do not serve as a critical test for distinction between four‐ and eightfold coordination.