Electronic transitions and dielectric function tensor of a YMnO3 single crystal in the NIR-VUV spectral range

Abstract

We present optical properties in the near-infrared to vacuum-ultraviolet spectral range of hexagonal YMnO₃. The high-quality (110)-oriented bulk single crystal was grown by the optical floating zone technique. We have determined the tensor of the dielectric function by means of Mueller matrix ellipsometry in the wide spectral range (0.5–9.15) eV. For the spectral range below 5.4 eV, we present much more precise data compared to previous reports. For higher energies no experimental reports were given previously. The experimental dielectric function of YMnO₃ agrees generally with theoretical calculations. We found the well known transitions involving hybridized oxygen – Mn states and Mn-3d states to be spectrally localized with a homogeneous Lorentzian lineshape. At energies above these transitions, we observe pseudo-transparent points where for each of the principal diagonal elements of the dielectric function tensor the imaginary part approaches zero but at different photon energies. These are followed at the onset of the high-absorption spectral range by parabolic direct band–band transitions which have not been reported so far.