Anisotropy of optical properties of hexagonal RMnO3 Manganites (R = Ho, Er, Tm, Yb)

The evolution of real and imaginary parts of the complex permittivity of hexagonal single crystals of RMnO₃ manganites (R = Ho, Er, Tm, Yb) differing in the radius of rare-earth ion r _R has been studied using spectroscopic ellipsometry in the range of 0.5–5.0 eV at room temperature. Spectra of dielectric functions show a strong polarization dependence. The optical-absorption edge for polarization E ⊥ c is determined by the intense narrow peak at 1.6 eV, whereas for polarization E ‖ c, the peak is shifted toward high energies by 0.15–0.20 eV and its intensity is suppressed greatly. It has been shown that, when r _R decreases, the energy position of the intense peak at 1.6 eV in the spectrum of the imaginary part of the dielectric function for polarization E ⊥ c shifts toward low energies by no more than 0.1 eV, which reflects changes in the local surroundings of the Mn³⁺ ion. For the both polarizations, a broad absorption band with the center at 2.4 eV has been revealed; the band was detected earlier in the antiferromagnetic phase in nonlinear spectra upon the optical generation of the second harmonic. Spectra of permittivity have been analyzed within available concepts on the electronic structure of hexagonal RMnO₃ compounds and have been compared with corresponding spectra of previously studied orthorhombic RMnO₃ compounds.