Raman study of phonon modes in ErVO[sub 4] single crystals.

The phonon modes of a pure ErVO<SUB4> crystal were determined at room temperature using Raman scattering methods, and the observed frequencies were assigned according to group theory in terms of the internal modes of the VO<SUP3-> ions and the external modes of the Er(VO<SUB4>) lattice. The assignments of the phonon 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 RVO<SUB4>, RAsO<SUB4>, and RPO<SUB4> materials. c 2001 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.1384858]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]