Photoluminescence from Cr3+ excited orbital states in magnetically ordered CrCl3
Abstract
Control of magnetic order through optical manipulation of orbital states can be realized in a wide range of materials, including insulators. In the latter case, electrons are excited into different electronic states, whose character may be a complex result of spin-orbit-lattice coupling. Here, we use a combination of polarization-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations to study excited Cr ³⁺ ions in bulk, insulating, antiferromagnetic CrCl ₃ . Our results demonstrate a temperature-dependent preferential polarization direction below ~17 K, which reorients in the presence of an applied in-plane magnetic field. Density functional theory calculations reveal a local distortion of the ligand field and the generation of out-of-plane spin and orbital moments, following the excitation of Cr ³⁺ ion. These changes link the photoluminescence polarization to the magnetic state of CrCl ₃ . Our findings provide insight into the electronic structure of excited-state Cr ³⁺ ions and suggest that CrCl ₃ is a promising candidate for opto-orbitronic applications.
Related
- Why Fe doping kills photoluminescence in CsPbCl3 but not in CsPbBr3: Role of midgap Fe 3d states and electron-phonon coupling
- On hyperfine structure of the rotationally excited 1 sμ nℓe-states in helium muonic atoms
- Three-uniform edge-ordered hypergraph quantum states: entanglement and its relation to hypergraph properties
- Octupole correlations in the excited 0+ states and two-neutron transfers in actinide nuclei
- Neural-network excited states of A=4 nuclei and hypernuclei
BibTeX
@article{zhou2026photoluminescence,
title = {{Photoluminescence from Cr3+ excited orbital states in magnetically ordered CrCl3}},
author = {Lanqing Zhou and Marjana Ležaić and Yuriy Mokrousov and Minh N. Bui and Renu Rani and Govind Ummethala and Amir H. Tavabi and Tatiana E. Gorelik and Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski and Detlev Grützmacher and Beata E. Kardynał},
journal = {Communications Physics},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1038/s42005-026-02943-7},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-026-02943-7},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Photoluminescence from Cr3+ excited orbital states in magnetically ordered CrCl3
AU - Lanqing Zhou
AU - Marjana Ležaić
AU - Yuriy Mokrousov
AU - Minh N. Bui
AU - Renu Rani
AU - Govind Ummethala
AU - Amir H. Tavabi
AU - Tatiana E. Gorelik
AU - Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski
AU - Detlev Grützmacher
AU - Beata E. Kardynał
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
JO - Communications Physics
DO - 10.1038/s42005-026-02943-7
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-026-02943-7
AB - Control of magnetic order through optical manipulation of orbital states can be realized in a wide range of materials, including insulators. In the latter case, electrons are excited into different electronic states, whose character may be a complex result of spin-orbit-lattice coupling. Here, we use a combination of polarization-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations to study excited Cr ³⁺ ions in bulk, insulating, antiferromagnetic CrCl ₃ . Our results demonstrate a temperature-dependent preferential polarization direction below ~17 K, which reorients in the presence of an applied in-plane magnetic field. Density functional theory calculations reveal a local distortion of the ligand field and the generation of out-of-plane spin and orbital moments, following the excitation of Cr ³⁺ ion. These changes link the photoluminescence polarization to the magnetic state of CrCl ₃ . Our findings provide insight into the electronic structure of excited-state Cr ³⁺ ions and suggest that CrCl ₃ is a promising candidate for opto-orbitronic applications.
SN - 2399-3650
ER -