Photoinduced charge-transfer process in rubidium manganese hexacyanoferrate probed by Raman spectroscopy

The photoinduced charge-transfer process in Rb(0.94)Mn[Fe(CN)(6)](0.98)center dot 0.2H(2)O is investigated by observing the valence states of the metal ions by Raman spectroscopy. The sample in the high-temperature phase is irradiated at the ligand to metal, CN(-)-> Fe(III) and charge-transfer band (lambda = 395 nm). The Fe(III)-CN-Mn(II) pair valence state corresponding to the high-temperature configuration is totally depleted after prolonged irradiation, and the Fe(II)-CN-Mn(III) pair valence state corresponding to the low-temperature configuration appears. In addition, two kinds of CN stretching modes, ascribed to Fe(II)-CN-Mn(II) and Fe(III)-CN-Mn(III) pair valence states, are found. The photoproduction process of each pair valence states is well reproduced by a kinetic model assuming a charge transfer from Mn(II) to Fe(III). During irradiation, continuous shifts of the Raman peaks are found and ascribed to a release of the strain due to the lattice mismatching between the high-temperature and the photoinduced phases. This behavior indicates that the photoinduced phase created locally in the high-temperature-phase lattice grows up to a photoinduced phase domain. The conversion efficiency is lowered with decreasing temperature, indicating the existence of an energy barrier. We propose a model, which can explain the existence of an energy barrier in the electronic excited state. (c) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3245863]