Lanthanide ions ground state

Electronic absorption spectra are produced when electromagnetic radiation promotes the ions from their ground state to excited states. For the lanthanides the most common of such transitions involve excited states which are either components of the ground term or else belong to excited terms which arise from the same 4f" configuration as the ground term. In either case the transitions therefore involve only a redistribution of electrons within the 4f orbitals (i.e. f—>f transitions) and so are orbitally forbidden just like d—>d transitions. In the case of the latter the rule is partially relaxed by a mechanism which depends on the effect of the crystal field in distorting the symmetry of the metal ion. However, it has already been pointed out that crystal field effects are very much smaller in the case of ions and they... 

The photochemical process will in general not occur in non-molecular solids due to the restriction in the nuclear coordinates. However, the nonradiative return to the ground state does, using MMCT states as an intermediary [35]. This can be nicely illustrated on a molecular solid, viz. the lanthanide-decatung-states which contain complex ions [Ln(III)Wio036] [40, 121]. 

We have shown in this chapter that the major electronic features that determine the spin dynamics of SIMs based on lanthanides can be directly correlated with the local coordination environment around the 4f metal ions. By using an effective point-charge model that accounts for covalent effects, we have shown that the splitting of the ground state,/, of the lanthanide into Mj sublevels, caused by the influence of the CF created by the surrounding ligands, is consistent with... 

The nature of the emission by these three lanthanide ions is phosphorescence, since the emission of light is accompanied by a change in spin multiplicity. For example, the emission by the Eu3+ cation involves a change in the spin multiplicity from 5 to 7 on going from the excited state to the ground state (5Eu —> 7Eu). 

Ruby was the first material for lasers but several other crystals are now employed. The crystals used need to contain an impurity with an energy level such that return to the ground state is only possible by a forbidden transition in the infrared, visible, or near ultraviolet. It must also be possible to populate this level via an allowed (or at least less forbidden) transition. Research has tended to concentrate on transition metal ions and lanthanide ions in various hosts since these ions have suitable transitions of the... 

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