- #1
- 376
- 235
Dear all,
I am not understanding well the "phonon-assisted" energy transfer between lanthanide ions and I need some clarifications.
There is a theoretical work by Miyakawa and Dexter (doi:10.1143/JPSJ.32.1577) which explains how phonon plays a role in transferring energy from one (4f-state of) lanthanide to another (4f-state) lanthanide with energy mismatch. Now if I understand correctly, the "phonon" itself spans throughout the entire crystal that the lanthanide ion is doped in. Thus if there is any electron-phonon interactions (where electron refers to the electronic 4f-states of the lanthanides), then all of the lanthanide must be interacting with the same phonon.
However, phonon-assisted energy transfer between lanthanides has been reported for glass material (amorphous material), where a phonon may be localized around to a particular lanthanide ion instead of spanning throughout the entire material. It seems to me, intuitively, that this is a conflicting result with what is written in the above paragraph.
I believe I am making some mistake in terms of understanding specific points discussed above. Either:
1) I am not correctly understanding electron-phonon interaction in general
2) I am correctly understanding 1) but incorrectly understanding phonon-assisted energy transfer
3) I am incorrectly understanding 1) and 2)
4) or I am correctly understanding both, and that above two paragraph is indeed an inconsistency that needs to be resolved.
Does phonon-asssited energy transfer require a phonon mode to span throughout the entire crystal? Or is it fine with a localized phonon? What am I not understanding correctly?
Thank you,
HAYAO
I am not understanding well the "phonon-assisted" energy transfer between lanthanide ions and I need some clarifications.
There is a theoretical work by Miyakawa and Dexter (doi:10.1143/JPSJ.32.1577) which explains how phonon plays a role in transferring energy from one (4f-state of) lanthanide to another (4f-state) lanthanide with energy mismatch. Now if I understand correctly, the "phonon" itself spans throughout the entire crystal that the lanthanide ion is doped in. Thus if there is any electron-phonon interactions (where electron refers to the electronic 4f-states of the lanthanides), then all of the lanthanide must be interacting with the same phonon.
However, phonon-assisted energy transfer between lanthanides has been reported for glass material (amorphous material), where a phonon may be localized around to a particular lanthanide ion instead of spanning throughout the entire material. It seems to me, intuitively, that this is a conflicting result with what is written in the above paragraph.
I believe I am making some mistake in terms of understanding specific points discussed above. Either:
1) I am not correctly understanding electron-phonon interaction in general
2) I am correctly understanding 1) but incorrectly understanding phonon-assisted energy transfer
3) I am incorrectly understanding 1) and 2)
4) or I am correctly understanding both, and that above two paragraph is indeed an inconsistency that needs to be resolved.
Does phonon-asssited energy transfer require a phonon mode to span throughout the entire crystal? Or is it fine with a localized phonon? What am I not understanding correctly?
Thank you,
HAYAO
Last edited: