The aim of this symposium proposal is to bring together different scientific communities who are contributing to the very exciting field of rare-earth compounds and rare-earth doped materials. The underlying goal of this event is to strengthen interactions between these communities and to engage both theorists and experimentalists in a dialogue which will result in a stronger understanding of the new advances in rare-earth elements in advanced photonics and spintronics. The symposium will reflect the richness and push the frontiers of this diverse field by incorporating topics such as theoretical activities, epitaxial growth, characterization, and device technologies.

In materials for photonics applications, usually based on insulating materials doped with RE ions, a considerable research activity is being carried out especially in the display and lighting industries. Most recently, the development of phosphors for white LEDs has gathered the attention. A new class of host materials including nitrides and oxy-nitrides for RE luminescent centers has been developed that offer light absorption from the near-UV to the blue spectral region and allow for the spectral control of light emission. The tremendous efforts to improve their performance have accelerated the commercial use of white LEDs in general illumination and backlighting in LCDs. In addition, the concept of wavelength conversion and photon cutting has led to new research avenues and applications of RE-activated phosphors such as converting the solar spectrum into light that is effectively converted to electrical energy in Si-based solar cells. In addition, it has been demonstrated that RE ions dopants are suitable for application in quantum information processing and memory. Another interest lies in the possibility to obtain efficient electrically pumped visible emission and amplification in the telecommunication window around 1,5µm. In recent year, this has been achieved by doping wide-bandgap semiconductors (GaN, SiC, and ZnO) with RE ions.

In materials for spintronics, possible candidate compounds from the rare earth monopnictide family have been found, with most of the nitrides and some oxides combining the properties of both ferromagnets and semiconductors. The prospect of having materials combining such extremely rare properties has fostered a substantial interest over the past decade. Indeed they offer in principle the possibility to control independently the doping and the magnetism opening not only new possibilities for spintronics devices and fundamental spin-transport but also an alternative route to diluted magnetic semiconductors. While their potential is yet to be fully realized and most of the theoretical discussions are in contrast with experimental results, several groups have succeeded in obtaining proof of concept rare earth nitrides/oxides spintronics device structures. In addition among the most interesting aspects of these materials is their recent epitaxial integration with mainstream silicon technology and wide-band gap semiconductors.