Simulation of the f–d transitions of lanthanide ions in YPO₄ using quantum-chemical calculations

We constructed an effective one-electron Hamiltonian by using the 4f/5d energies and eigenvectors obtained from the first-principles calculation with the relativistic self-consistent discrete variational Slater software package (DV-X\alpha). From the effective Hamiltonian, we obtained the crystal-field and spin-orbit interaction parameters for the 4f and 5d electrons of lanthanide ions (Ce³⁺, Pr³⁺, Nd³⁺ and Eu³⁺⁾ doped in YPO₄, and these parameters were used to calculate the 4f^N-4f^N-15d transition. Comparison with experiments shows that the obtained parameters are reasonable and the excitation spectra can be well predicted.