Condensed Matter Physics

Academic Staff

Dr Simon Brown
Physics of low-dimensional semiconductor structures.

Dr John A Campbell
Growth of single crystals. The glassy state. Infrared spectroscopy, low temperature physics, magnetic field spectroscopy. Physics in archaeology and art. Teaching. Communicating science to the public.

Dr Colin N Hooker (Research Associate)
Thermal conductivity measurements and phonon scattering in dielectrics near phase transitions.

Dr Glynn D Jones
Spectroscopy of rare-earth ions in crystals using lasers in selective excitation and Raman scattering studies. Zeeman infrared spectroscopy of rare-earth and transition metal electronic and vibronic transitions. Crystal-field and electron-phonon interaction calculations.

Dr Roger J Reeves
Laser spectroscopy of the solid state, particularly the characterization of materials that have applications in lasers and nonlinear optics. Techniques used include four-wave-mixing, spectral holeburning and site-selection spectroscopy.

Assoc. Prof.  Rod W G Syme
Raman and laser excitation spectroscopy of rare earth and transition metals in ionic crystals. Lattice vibrations in mixed crystals.

Research Students (1993-99)

PhD Students (1993-99)

Majorie Mujaji
Keith Murdoch
Nick Sheen
John Laban
Nick Strickland
Stephen Botha
Jon Wells
Steven Jamison 
Mattias Johnson
Stephen Crooks
Michael Hyslop
Julie Nelson
Andreas Wurl

Masters Students (1993-99)

Andrew Watson
Paul Arnold
Graeme Plank
Bill Snodgrass
Peter Yeates
Stephen Crooks
Glen Bayne

Programme

The optical, electronic, magnetic and vibrational properties of defect ionic materials and molecular materials are studied through many forms of spectroscopy in order to provide an understanding of these materials at a fundamental level.

The studies include the investigation of energy transfer processes in materials with potential application to the development of upconversion lasers (lasers in which the output radiation has a greater frequency than the input radiation) and work is continuing in optical memory effects in which fluorescence of crystals containing deuteride ions can be succesively bleached and recovered by changing the polarisation of the incident laser radiation.

In magnetically ordered materials the interest is in dynamical processes occurring in one-dimensional magnets and new types of magnetic order in mixed magnetic systems.

Infrared spectroscopy is being used to characterize doped fluoride glasses as this information is important in the development of superionic conductors and active optic fibres.

Equipment

The principal method of investigation is spectroscopy and experimental facilities in the Department include:

spectrometers covering the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regions from 40,000 to 10 cm-1;

an argon ion laser with 30 watt visible or 7 watt UV lasing capability;

a 5 watt argon laser;

a krypton ion laser;

dye lasers;

a Ti:Sapphire tunable infrared laser with frequency doubling crystal;

a pulsed nitrogen/dye laser;

a Raman spectrometer;

a Mössbauer spectrometer with controlled temperature from 5.5 K to 1000 K;

a thermal conductivity apparatus;

liquid helium and associated cryogenic facilities, including superconducting magnets for fields up to 6 T;

sensitive infrared detectors operating at temperatures down to 0.4 K.

Considerable expertise has been built up over many years in methods of purification, preparation and growth of single crystals. A number of techniques are used, the major crystal growing facility being a 30 kW r.f. furnace.

Recent publications  (In the process of being updated)

• Attenberger, T., Bogner, U., Jones, G.D. & Murdoch, K.M. Barrier crossing of H^- and D^- in CD(s) centres of hydrogenated SrF₂:Pr³⁺. Solid State Communications, 58, 1513-9, 1997.
• Baribeau, J.-M., Lockwood, D.J., Rolfe, S.J., Syme, R.W.G. & Labbe, H.J. Atomic hydrogen assisted growth of Si-Ge heterostructures on (001), Si.   Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., 448, 113-8, 1997.
• Campbell, J.A., Sievers, A.J., Tu. J., Adglaze, N. & Fitzgerald, S.A. mm-Wave absorption and Raman scattering from glass-like features in fluorite mixed crystals, Physica B, 244, 159-66, 1998.
  Cmapbell, J.A., Ruaukas, M., Chois, J., Yen, W.M. & Happek, U. Optical spectra and photoconductivity or uranium-doped CaF2 crystals, J. Lum., 72-74, 34-40, 1998.
• Campbell, J.A., Tu, J. & Sievers, A.J. Raman scattering from glass-like features in mixed fluorite crystals, Mat. Sci. Forum, 485, 239-242, 1997.
• Jamison, S.P. & Imbush, G.F. Temperature dependence of the Luminescence from heavily doped ruby, J. Lumin, 75, 143-7, 1997.
• Jones, G.D. & Strickland, N.M. Mixed Hyperfine and electron-phonon interaction in the Zenman spectra of H- local modes in CaF₂:Ho³⁺,Physical   Review B - Condensed Matter, 57(21), 13471-6, 1998.
• Lockwood, D.J., Syme, R.W.G., Dubowski, J.J. & Deleporte, E. Confined electronic states is CdTe/Cd_0.9Mn_0.1Te superlattices: A resonance Raman study, J. Appl. Phys, 83, 4258-63, 1998
• Strickland, N.M. & Jones, G.D. Site-selective spectroscopy of Tm³⁺ centres in CF₂:Tm³⁺, Phys. Rev. B., 56, 10916-29, 1997.
• Wells, J-P.R. & Jones, G.D. Hyperfine and electron-phonon splittings of F- and H- C4v centres in CaF2:Tb3+, J. Lumin, 76 & 77, 608-10, 1998.
• Wells, J-P.R., Heron, R.J., Jones, G.D., Manson, N.B. & Martin, J.P.D. Selective laser excitation and ODNMR studies of SrF2:Pr3+ codoped with     La3+, J. Lumin., 78, 213-9, 1997.
• Baribeau, J.-M., Lockwood, D.J. & Syme, R.W.G. Iterfaces in Si/Ge atomic layer superlattices on (001)Si: Effect of growth temperature and wafer misorientation, J. Appl. Phys., 80, 1450-59, 1997.
• Johnsson, M.T. & Aitchison, I.J.R. Nonabelian geometric phase for two Kramers doublets and the SU(2) monopole, J. Phys. A., 30, 2085-92, 1997.
• Murdoch, K.M., Jones, G.D. & Syme, R.W.G. Site-selective spectroscopy of TB³⁺ centres in SrF₂ and CaF₂, Phys. Rev. B 56, 1254-68, 1997.
• Roth, A.P., Lévesque, P., Syme, R.W.G., Lockwood, D.J., Aers, G.C., Rao, T.S. & Lacelle, C. Structural and optical characterization of       InP/Ga_xIn_1-xAsyP_1-y quantum wells and interfacial layers, J. Appl. Phys., 80, 4033-39, 1997.
• Syme, R.W.G., Lockwood, D.J., Dion, M.M. & Dubowski, J.J. Folded acoustic modes and photoelastic coefficients in CdTe/Cd_1-xMn_xTe superlatticews, Solid State Comm. vX, 103, 239-42, 1997.
• Wells, J.-P.R., Jones, G.D. & Reeves, R.J. Energy transfer and laser spectroscopy of Eu³⁺ co-doped CaF₂:Sm³⁺, J. Lumin., 72-4, 977-79, 1997.
• Brown, S.A. & Macks, L.D. Novel magnetic field-induced bistability in resonant tunneling, Phys. Rev. B. (Rapid Communications), 58, 1758, 1998.
• Jones, G.D. & Murdoch, K.M. Dynamics of Bleachable H-, D- and T- Centres in CaF2:Pr3+ and SrF2:Pr3+ J. Lumin., 66-67, 136 (1996).
• Reeves, R.J., Murdoch, K.M., & Jones, G.D. Dynamics of Bleachable H-, D- and T- Centres in CaF2:Pr3+ and SrF2:Pr3+ J. Lumin., 66-67, 136 (1996).
• Dyke, T.R., Strickland, N.M., Martin, J.P.D., & Manson, N.B. Hole-burning of rare-earth doped Calcium Fluoride J. Lumin., 66-67, 36 (1996).
• Jamison. S.P., & Reeves,. R.J. Optical depolarisatation of CaF2: RE3+ and SrF2:RE3+ C4v(F-) centres due to dipole reorientation J. Lumin., 66-67, 169 (1996).
• Strickland, N.M., & Jones, G.D. Room temperature upconversion fluorescence of rare-earth centres in CaF2 J. Lumin., 66-67, 198 (1996).
• Wells, J.P.R., & Reeves,. R.J. Upconversion fluorescence of Eu3+ doped alkaline eath fluoride crystals J. Lumin., 66-67, 219 (1996).
• Jones, G.D. & Strickland, N.M. Zeeman spectroscopy of local modes of the C4v H- centre in CaF2:Er3+ J. Lumin., 66-67, 253 (1996).
• Syme, R.W.G., Lockwood, D.J., Labbe, H.J., & Webb, J.B. Resonance Raman study of folded acoustic modes in strained InSb/In_(1-x)Al_xSb superlattices J. Raman Spect. 27, 217 (1996).
• Sheen, N.I., & McCann, V. Mossbauer spectroscopy of NH4Co_(0.994)Fe_(0.0006)Cl3 and CsCo_(0.99)Fe_(0.01)Cl3 J. Phys. Cond. Mat., 7, 1933 (1995).
• Laban, J.A., & McCann, V. Mossbauer spectroscopy of CsCoCl3 doped with 57Fe and Mg J. Phys. Cond. Mat., 7, 7283 (1995).
• Holstrom, S.A., Taheri, B., Reeves, R.J., Powell, R.C., Sharp, E.J. & Neurgonankar, R.R. Nonlinear optical responses of strontium barium niobate,    Opt. Commun., 114, 413-20, 1995.
• Jamison, S.P. & Reeves, R.J. Op;tical depolarization in CaF₂:RE2³⁺ and SrF₂:RE³⁺C4v centers due to dipole reorientation, J. Lumin., 66 & 67, 169-73, 1995.
• Jones, G.D. & Strickland, N.M. Zeeman spectroscopy of local modes of the C4vH- center in CaF2:Er3+, J. Lumin., 66 & 67, 253-8, 1995.
• Laban, J.A. & McCann, V.H. Mössbauer spectroscopy of CsCOCl₃ doped with 57Fe and Mg, J. Phys. Condens. Matter, 7, 7283-92, 1995.
• Liu, H., Reeves, R.J., Powell, R.C. & Boatner, L.A. Effect of KTa1-xNbxO3 crystal orientation on the nonlinear optical response in the picosecond             degenerate four-wave mixing, Optical Materials, 4, 691-99, 1995.
•  Sheen, N.I., McCann, V. & Pankhurst, Q.A. Mossbauer study of NH4FeCl3: a quasi one-dimensional magnet Hyperfine interactions 93, 1547 (1994).
• Jones, G.D. Zeeman spectroscopy of H- local modes in rare-earth doped CaF2:Er3+ J. Lumin., 58, 20 (1994).
• Jones, G.D. & Murdoch, K.M. Laser site-selective spectroscopy of Tb3+ ions in CaF2 and SrF2 J. Lumin., 60-61, 131 (1994).
• Cockroft, N.J., & Murdoch, K.M. Energy transfer between thulium and praeseodymium ions in solids J. Lumin., 60-61, 891 (1994).
• Khong, Y.L., Jones, G.D., & Syme, R.W.G. Laser-selective-excitation spectroscopy of Pr3+ centers in mixed alkaline-earth-fluoride crystals Phys. Rev. B, 48, 672 (1993).
• Martin, J.P.D., Boonyarith, T., Manson, N.B., Mujaji, M. & Jones, D.G. Hyperfine coupling between crystal-field levels in the tetragonal centre of CaF2:Ho3+. J. Phys. Condens. Matt., 5 , 1333--48 (1993).
• McCann, V.H., Laban, J.A. & Sheen, N.A. Effective Hamiltonians for pseudo-one dimensional compounds of the type AFeX3 Hyperfine Inter. 71, 1363--66 (1992).
• Manson, N.B., Hasan, Z., Fisk, P.T.H ., Reeves, R.J., Jones, G.D. & Macfarlane, R.M. Superhyperfine structure of F-, H- D- and T- charge-compensated Pr3+ centres in CaF2 and SrF2 crystals. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 4, 5591--8 (1992).
• Mujaji, M., Jones, G.D, & Syme, R.W.G. Polarization study and crystal-field analysis of the laser selective excitation spectra of Ho3+ in CaF2 and SrF2 crystals. Phys. Rev. B46, 14398--14410 (1992).
• Mujaji, M., Jones, G.D. & Syme, R.W.G. Upconversion fluorescence spectroscopy of Ho3+ dimer pairs in CsCdBr3. J. Luminescence 53, 473--6 (1992).
• Cockroft, N.J., Jones, G.D. & Nguyen, D.S. Dynamics and spectroscopy of infrared-to-visible upconversion in erbium-doped cesium cadmium bromide (CsCdBr3:Er3+). Phys. Rev. B. 45, 5187--98 (1992).
• Han, T.P.J, Jones, G.D., & Syme, R.W.G. Site-selective spectroscopy of Nd3+ centers in CaF2:Nd3+ and SrF2:Nd3+ Phys. Rev. B. 47, 14706--23 (1992).
• Khong, Yoon Loong, Jones, G.D. & Syme, R.W.G. Fluorescence lifetimes of Pr3+ centres in mixed CaF2:SrF2 crystals. J. of Luminescence 53, 503-06 (1992).
• Laban, J.A. & McCann, V.H. Crystal field analysis of the one-dimensional antiferromagnet CsCoCl3 Hyperfine Inter. 71, 1367--70 (1992).
• Lang, P.T., Knott, W.J., Werling, U., Renk, K.F., Campbell, J.A.. & Jones, G.D. Temperature dependence of the saturation of H- local-mode absorption in CaF2 by use of a tunable carbon dioxide laser. Phys. Rev. B44, 6780--84 (1992).
• Love, S.P., Mungan, C.E., Sievers, A .J. & Campbell, J.A. Persistent infrared spectral hole burning of Tb? in the glasslike mixed crystal Ba? La? Tb? F?. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B9, 794--9 (1992).
• Reeves, R.J., Jones, G.D. & Syme, R.G.W. Site-selective spectroscopy of Pr3+ C4v symmetry centers in hydrogenated CaF2 :Pr3+ and SrF2:Pr3+ crystals. Phys. Rev., B46, 5939--58 (1992).
• Anderson, A. & Campbell, J.A. Far-infrared spectra of crystalline antimony tri-iodide and arsenic tri-iodide. Phys. Stat. Sol. B, 163, 527--31 (1991).
• Pollard, R.J., Bauer, C., Laban, J. & McCann, V.H. Magnetic phases in iron-doped NiCl? J. Phys.:Condens.Matter, 3, 5741--50 (1991).
• McCann, V.H., Ward, J.B., McKee, V. & Faulalo, K. Relaxation effects in Mössbauer spectra of bridged seven-coordinate Fe? pairs. Hyperfine Inter. 56, 1465--70 (1990).
• Campbell, J.A. Firewalking - A painless way to raise money. J. Sci. Teachers' Assn. of Victoria, 34, 4--6 (1990).
• Cockroft, N.J, Jones, G.D. & Syme, R.W.G. Site-selective laser spectroscopy of deuterated SrF2:Er3+. J. Chem. Phys., 92, 2166--77 (1990).