KCl crystals with a silver impurity: From point defects to oriented AgCl microcrystals in a crystalline host

This paper presents the first unambiguous optically detected magnetic-reson ance (ODMR) evidence that AgCl crystals embedded in the KCl lattice and ret aining the host orientation are formed in KCl crystals grown with a 2-3 mol % silver impurity. ODMR spectra were obtained of self-trapped holes, shall ow electronic centers, and self-trapped excitons, which are typical of AgCl , and a number of substantially different ODMR spectra were also obtained. The differences between the ODMR spectra observed in samples cleaved from d ifferent parts of a KCl : AgCl crystal are probably accounted for by embedd ed AgCl crystals varying in size from large micro- to nanocrystals. (C) 200 0 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".