Luminescent properties of the ZnSe:Yb crystals in the visible spectral range

Luminescent properties of the ytterbium doped zinc selenide crystals with various concentrations of the doping impurity in 0.03–8 at % range within the temperature interval from 6K to 300K were studied. It was shown that ytterbium does not form any proper photoluminescence (PL) bands in the visible spectral range, but it has significant influence on the crystals luminescent properties by changing their defect composition. An attempt to determine ytterbium ion surroundings in the crystal lattice was made based on the obtained experimental results. An assumption about simultaneous compensation of donor and acceptor defects as a result of doping annealing in Zn+Xat % Yb melt was made. •ZnSe:Yb crystals with Yb concentration within 0.03–8at% range were obtained•Temperature and concentration dependences of ZnSe:Yb PL properties were studied•Ytterbium impurity contribution to formation of the PL bans was determined•A model explaining Yb interaction with native and extrinsic defects was proposed