Growth and EPR properties of HoVO4 single crystals

Abstract HoVO 4 single crystals were grown by the Czochralski method. The crystals were transparent. EPR spectra of the well oriented crystals were recorded as a function of the applied magnetic field. Besides Ho 3+ , V 4+ ions were detected. EPR-NMR program was applied to find spin Hamiltonian parameters of Ho 3+ ions. Absorption, excitation and photoluminescence spectra were measured, revealing the presence of electronic transitions characteristic for Ho 3+ ions.