Raman study of phonon modes in ErVO4 single crystals

The phonon modes of a pure ErVO4 crystal were determined at room temperatur e using Raman scattering methods, and the observed frequencies were assigne d according to group theory in terms of the internal modes of the VO43- ion s and the external modes of the Er(VO4) lattice. The assignments of the pho non modes match well with the overall phonon systematics of the rare-earth orthovanadate series, and the results presented here reinforce the general trend of bonding strength in the zircon series of RVO4, RAsO4, and RPO4 mat erials. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.