Paramagnetic absorption of pentavalent molybdenum in polycrystalline tin dioxide

Part of molybdenum introduced in SnO₂ by various methods is found to be stabilized in the pentavalent state at substitutional positions. The ESR spectra of Mo⁵⁺ ions are characterized by the following parameters: g_xx = 1.891; g_yy = 1.835 and g_zz = 1.923, A_xx = 24 G, A_yy = 30 G and A_zz = 70 G. There are, in addition, two sets of superhyperfine structures due to the two tins located along the crystallographic c axis (290 G) and to the four tins lying in a diagonal plane of the unit cell containing four oxygens (51 G), consistent with a 3d_x²-y² + λ 3d_z2 ground state. The variations of the Mo⁵⁺ ESR spectrum upon heating the samples in various atmospheres (O₂, H₂) suggest that molybdenum enters the SnO₂ lattice also as Mo⁴⁺.