Electronic structure and optical properties of lanthanide (rare-earth) materials.
Qualifications & Memberships
Research Interests
My main research interests are the electronic structure and transition intensities of visible and UV transitions within 4fN configurations and between the 4fN and 4fN-1 5d configurations of lanthanide (rare-earth) ions in various compounds. These materials have complex spectra with sharp lines and so an extremely detailed comparison between theory and experiment is possible.
In addition to their intrinsic scientific interest, lanthanide compounds have technological applications, being widely used in fluorescent lamp and TV phosphors, laser materials, and fibre-optical amplifiers.
Recent research has focused on the dynamical properties of excited states of lanthanide ions, probed by laser and x-ray techniques. We have also developed techniques to relate ab-initio calculations to spectroscopiec energy-level models.
Our current focus is on the understanding of materials that have potential for quantum-information applications, and on nanoparticles for biomedical imaging.
Recent Publications
- Alizadeh Y., Wells JPR., Reid MF., Ferrier A. and Goldner P. (2023) Zeeman spectroscopy and crystal-field analysis of low symmetry centres in Nd3+doped Y
2 SiO5 . Journal of Physics Condensed Matter 35(30) http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/acceed. - Martin JLB., Reid MF. and Wells JPR. (2023) Dipole–Quadrupole interactions between Sm3+ ions in KY
3 F10 nanocrystals. Journal of Alloys and Compounds 937 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.168394. - Martin JLB., Williams LF., Reid MF. and Wells J-PR. (2023) Growth and spectroscopy of lanthanide doped Y2SiO5 microcrystals for quantum information processing. Optical Materials 142 114093: 8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2023.114093.
- Solanki PS., Balabhadra S., Reid MF. and Wells JPR. (2023) A spectroscopic and thermometric comparison of α- And β-phase KYF
4 :Yb3+/Er3+nanoparticles. Journal of Applied Physics 133(3) http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0131207. - Balabhadra S., Wells JPR. and Reid MF. (2022) Near-infrared absorption thermometry exploiting an anomalously large spectral line-shift for the Yb3+ cubic centre in CaF
2 :Yb3+/Er3+ nanoparticles. Optics and Laser Technology 150 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2022.107997.