The demand for compact ultraviolet laser devices is increasing, as they are essential in applications such as optical storage, photocatalysis, sterilization, ophthalmic surgery and nanosurgery. Many researchers are devoting considerable effort to finding materials with larger bandgaps than that of GaN. Here we show that hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a promising material for such laser devices because it has a direct bandgap in the ultraviolet region. We obtained a pure hBN single crystal under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions, which shows a dominant luminescence peak and a series of s-like exciton absorption bands around 215 nm, proving it to be a direct-bandgap material. Evidence for room-temperature ultraviolet lasing at 215 nm by accelerated electron excitation is provided by the enhancement and narrowing of the longitudinal mode, threshold behaviour of the excitation current dependence of the emission intensity, and a far-field pattern of the transverse mode.

The phonon dispersion relations of bulk hexagonal boron nitride have been determined from inelastic x-ray scattering measurements and analyzed by ab initio calculations. Experimental data and calculations show an outstanding agreement and reconcile the controversies raised by recent experimental data obtained by electron-energy loss spectroscopy and second-order Raman scattering. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.095503 PACS numbers: 63.20.Dj, 61.10.Eq, 63.10.+a, 71.15.Mb Besides their intermediate structure between twodimensional sheets and 3D crystals, layered compounds are relevant materials for storage of other compounds [1] and as potential building blocks for nanotubes [2]. Among these materials, graphite and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have drawn most of the attention due to their simple hexagonal structure, their fascinating properties, and the successful realization of carbon-[3] and more recently BN [4 -6] nanotubes. A wide band gap semiconductor, h-BN, has been grown successfully very recently as a single crystal. It exhibits a lasing behavior at 5.8 eV that makes it attractive for optoelectronic applications in the ultraviolet energy range [7].Despite the tremendous effort devoted to the characterization of physical properties of h-BN, the lattice dynamics, responsible for the elastic and thermodynamic properties such as the heat capacity and the thermal expansion, are still under debate. First principles calculations are generally accepted as the most accurate theoretical description of the lattice dynamics [8]. Recently, for h-BN, the validity of state of the art ab initio calculations was put in doubt by two experiments: Rokuta et al. [9] reported the only experimental data available for the phonon dispersion relations by electron-energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) performed on a monolayer of h-BN deposited on a Ni(111) substrate. Among several deviations from ab initio calculations of the lattice dynamics both for a monolayer [10,11] and for bulk h-BN [12,13], the EELS data show a degeneracy at the K point between acoustic (ZA) and optical (ZO) modes polarized along the c axis. The origin of this degeneracy has not been clarified yet. More recently [14], second-order Raman spectra of single crystalline h-BN revealed two features that contested the predictions based on a simple doubling of the energy scale of ab initio calculations for the one-phonon density of states, suggesting deviations up to 40% for the calculated energy of the TA branch in the K-M region. Since h-BN is a relevant material for UV lasing, it is imperative to resolve the existing controversies and critically assess the quality of the ab initio calculations. Furthermore, we need exact information on the lattice dynamics in order to properly understand the contributions due to electron-phonon coupling observed in the cathodoluminescence and absorption spectra of h-BN [7] and BN nanotubes [15,16].In this Letter we address the above discrepancies in the vibrational properties by reporting inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) measurements...

We report the realization of an ultraviolet light-emitting diode with the use of a diamond pn junction. The pn junction was formed from a boron-doped p-type diamond layer and phosphorus-doped n-type diamond layer grown epitaxially on the 111 surface of single crystalline diamond. The pn junction exhibited good diode characteristics, and at forward bias of about 20 volts strong ultraviolet light emission at 235 nanometers was observed and was attributed to free exciton recombination.

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Two new electron-paramagnetic-resonance (EPR) spectra, tentatively labeled NIRIM-1 and NIRIM-2, have been studied using synthetic diamond crystals grown from the Ni solvent to which various amounts of nitrogen getters (Ti, Zr) and/or boron were added. The NIRIM-1 spectrum (g =2.0112) having the effective spin S =~, which has been determined from the microwave pulsewidth dependence of the two-pulse echo intensity, is assigned to be isolated interstitial Ni+ with electronic configuration 3d'. The anisotropic spectra of powderlike line shape at 4 K might be ascribed to an intermediate Jahn-Teller effect coupled predominantly with trigonal distortions. The NIRIM-2 spectrum having an axially symmetric g tensor (S= -, ', g~~= 2.3285, g, =0) arises from a 3d' ion in a crystal field of trigonally distorted octahedron. It is proposed that the center is interstitial Ni+ associated with a vacancy or with local charge compensation.

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