VUV spectroscopy of pure LiCaAlF6 crystals

Reflection, excitation and luminescence spectra of as-grown and X-ray irradiated high-purity LiCaAlF6 crystals were studied in the temperature range of 10–300 K using synchrotron radiation in VUV. The intrinsic luminescence of samples at 10 K consists of a non-elementary broad band with maximum at 4.4 eV under excitation at 11.45 eV. It is ascribed to the radiative decay of self-trapped excitons. The energy gap is estimated to be 12.65 eV in LiCaAlF6. Under interband excitation a red shift of luminescence was observed. The electron–hole recombination leads to the emission peaking at 3.7 eV. The excitation processes and origin of overlapping emissions of LiCaAlF6 are discussed.