Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2025

Author Spotlight: Magnetometric Characterization of Intermediates in the Solid-State Electrochemistry of Redox-Active Metal-Organic Frameworks
Published on: June 9, 2023
Unexpected green-light emission and correlating room-temperature diluted magnetism in pristine non-magnetic
1Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Quantum Chips and Quantum Control, School of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China. phyjmli@zju.edu.cn.
Abstract:
We report the fabrication of pristine yttria (Y2O3) polycrystalline nanowires (NWs) using an electrospinning method. An intense green photoluminescence (GPL) emission at 544 nm was observed from the Y2O3 nanograins with a statistical average crystallite size of 14.3 nm. Interestingly, the full-shell d-electron Y2O3 NWs are found to be weakly antiferromagnetic, and the effective magnetic moment was estimated to be ∼1.62 × 10-4μB per O at 10 K. The volume fraction of oxygen anion vacancies ([VO]+) was estimated to be ∼1.62% in the anion-defective electrospun Y2O3 NWs. A symmetric electron paramagnetic resonance signal at g ∼ 2.0415 revealed the presence of an unpaired electron trapped in the Y2O3 NWs. Finally, a [VO]+ electron-trapped state, i.e. F-center mechanism, is proposed to explain the PL and correlating weak magnetism, which provides new insight into the origin of 4d0 diluted magnetism in nonmagnetic closed-shell Y2O3 NWs (spin from Y2O3) with GPL.
Related Concept Videos
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism was discovered by Anton Brugmans in 1778 when he observed that bismuth gets repelled by magnetic fields, thus theorizing that diamagnets get repelled by magnets....
Paramagnetism
Ferromagnetism
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes
Potential Due to a Magnetized Object
The vector...

