Evidence of the Excitation of Mn2+ Spin-Dependent Photoluminescence in Manganese-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnets

Mn2+ ions in yttrium positions have been studied by means of optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) via Mn2+ spin-dependent emission in manganese-doped yttrium aluminum garnet crystals. It was shown that the intensity of photoluminescence excited by circularly polarized light depends on the population of the spin sublevels of the Mn2+ ground state and therefore can be used to study the ODMR. EPR measurements have confirmed that Mn2+ ions in the crystals under study occupy preferentially dodecahedral positions in the YAG lattice. Observation of forbidden transitions in the ODMR spectra has proved that the observed ODMR signals belong to Mn2+. Thus the wavelength dependence of the ODMR amplitude reveals the emission band of Mn2+ ions at dodecahedral positions in YAG:Mn.