Epitaxial growth and spectroscopic investigation of BaSO₄:Mn⁶⁺ layers

We report on the first layer growth of a Mn6+-doped material. Large-size BaSO4 substrates of 10×6×4 mm3 were grown from a LiCl solvent by the flux method. Flat surfaces of undoped BaSO4 were then achieved by use of liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) from a CsCl–KCl–NaCl solvent. Finally, BaSO4:Mn6+ layers were grown by LPE with growth velocities of approximately 3 μmh−1, at temperatures of 550–508 ◦C. Absorption, luminescence, luminescence excitation and luminescence-decay measurements confirmed the incorporation of manganese solely in its hexavalent oxidation state. This material possesses potential as a near-infrared tunable laser with a wavelength range larger than Ti:sapphire.