Magnetic resonance tensors in Uracil: Calculation of 13C, 15N, 17O NMR chemical shifts, 17O and 14N electric field gradients and measurement of 13C and 15N chemical shifts

The experimental ¹³C NMR chemical shift components of uracil in the solid state are reported for the first time (to our knowledge), as well as newer data for the ¹⁵N nuclei. These experimental values are supported by extensive calculated data of the ¹³C, ¹⁵N and ¹⁷O chemical shielding and ¹⁷O and ¹⁴N electric field gradient (EFG) tensors. In the crystal, uracil forms a number of strong and weak hydrogen bonds, and the effect of these on the ¹³C and ¹⁵N chemical shift tensors is studied. This powerful combination of the structural methods and theoretical calculations gives a very detailed view of the strong and weak hydrogen bond formation by this molecule. Good calculated results for the optimized cluster in most cases (except for the EFG values of the ¹⁴N3 and ¹⁷O4 nuclei) certify the accuracy of our optimized coordinates for the hydrogen nuclei. Our reported RMSD values for the calculated chemical shielding and EFG tensors are smaller than those reported previously. In the optimized cluster the 6-311+G** basis set is the optimal one in the chemical shielding and EFG calculations, except for the EFG calculations of the oxygen nuclei, in which the 6-31+G** basis set is the optimal one. The optimal method for the chemical shielding and EFG calculations of the oxygen and nitrogen nuclei is the PW91PW91 method, while for the chemical shielding calculations of the ¹³C nuclei the B3LYP method gives the best results.     

Angular correlation studies on 172Lu(172Yb) in GaN and measurements at low temperatures

For optoelectronic devices semiconductors with large band gap doped with rare earth are used. Doping is generally performed during growth but for more structured doping the ion implantation technique is preferable. The perturbed γγ-angular correlation technique is an ideal tool to study the behavior of semiconductors after implantation. An adequate rare earth isotope for such investigations of semiconductors is ¹⁷²Yb. The temperature dependence of the hyperfine fields for ¹⁷²Lu(¹⁷²Yb) in GaN has been analysed. The total electric field gradient (EFG) at the site of this probe is a superposition of the lattice EFG due to the GaN wurtzite structure and the EFG due to the 4f shell of the rare earth probe itself. The latter is strongly temperature dependent and opposed to the lattice EFG which in contrast is nearly constant since the lattice parameters change only negligibly with temperature. At elevated temperatures the sublevels of the 4f shell, split by the crystal electric field, are equally populated. But at low temperatures the lowest level is occupied preferentially. Sign and magnitude of the EFG caused by the 4f shell can be calculated (Tomala et al, J Magn Magn Mater 89(1–2):143, 1990) and the result compared to the experimental data.     

Electric field gradient in transition metal: Scandium

Corrections to results of electric field gradient (EFG) already published [Pramana — J. Phys.41, 443 (1993)] are reported. The corrected net EFG is:q=−8.01×10¹³ esu/cm³ against the published valueq=16.06×10¹³ esu/cm³. The present result agrees reasonably well with the experimental result, |q _expt|=13×10¹³ esu/cm³. Recently, a computational error is detected, which modifies the results of EFG, we have already published [1]. The error was committed mainly in the part that evaluated thep-p contribution [1] to EFG by the conduction electrons. The corrected results are summarized in table 1 which must replace the table 1 of the published work [1]. In addition, the lattice parameters as well as the temperature were also misquoted in the previous work [1]. The right parameters are:a=6.25311 au andc=9.96509 au. The temperature at which EFG’s are calculated is 293 K instead of 11 K as reported before [1]. The discussions and conclusions made in the published work [1] remain almost unchanged except that they now refer to the corrected numbers. Although the corrected net EFG suffers a sign reversal from the one already published [1], the agreement with experiment is still considered reasonably good because the sign of experimental EFG is not determined. The computational error however does not affect the introduction and theory section of the published work [1].     

Angular dependence of the PAC spectrum in a quenched single crystal of cadmium

To examine the orientation and magnitude of the electric field gradient (EFG) created by a vacancy at the¹¹¹In probe site, PAC spectra were measured in a Cd single crystal as a function of the crystal orientation after a quenching and aging treatment at 120 K. The results are compared with calculated spectra based on a point charge model of the EFG created by a vacancy at the site of the probe atom.     

Mössbauer Characterization of Iron-Based Nanogranular Films

The electric field gradients (EFG) of the Hf₂Fe intermetallic compound were calculated using the full-potential linearized augmented plain-wave (FP-LAPW) method as embodied in the WIEN 97 code. The obtained values are compared with other ab-initio calculations and on a qualitative basis with the previously reported experimental data obtained from TDPAC. The calculated results, −23.1·10²¹ V/m² and 2.7·10²¹ V/m² for Hf 48f and Fe 32e position, respectively, are in excellent agreement with experimental data (23.4·10²¹ V/m² and 2.7·10²¹ V/m²), better than those reported in earlier calculations. The calculated EFG for Hf 16c position (4.2·10²¹ V/m²) is stronger than the experimental one (1.1·10²¹ V/m²).     

Interpretation of the 119Sn Mössbauer parameters

The variations of the ¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer isomer shift δ are interpreted for tin compounds from a semi-empirical tight-binding calculation of the electronic density at the nucleus ρ(0). A molecular model is proposed in order to relate the variations of ρ(0) for the Sn(IV) chalcogenides to the changes in the Sn environment. The variations of the experimental values of the quadrupole splitting δ are linearly correlated to the values of the electric field gradients (EFG) calculated by the full-potential linearized-augmented-plane-wave (FP-LAPW) method. The value of the ¹¹⁹Sn nuclear quadrupole moment is found to be |Q| = 10.5 ± 0.2 fm². Finally, the relation between the EFG and the Sn environment is discussed for SnO.     

Crystal-chemistry aspects and electric-field-gradient (EFG) dispersion in Ca-gallogermanate-type structures studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy

The crystal field disorder in some trigonal germanates of the type X_3-yLn_yFe_2+yGe_4-yO₁₄ (X = Ba, Sr; Ln = La, Nd; y = 0, 1) is studied by ⁵⁷Fe M?ssbauer effect. The dispersion of the electric field gradient (EFG) at the octahedral sites of these compounds is investigated. A correlation of the experimental and calculated EFG data with some crystal-chemistry aspects is presented. Received 3 February 1999     

Nonempirical cluster calculations of the electric field gradient tensor in yttrium-aluminum garnet Y3Al5O12

The electric field gradient (EFG) tensor at the aluminum nucleus sites in yttrium-aluminum garnet Y₃Al₅O₁₂ is calculated using the Hartree-Fock method and the nonempirical cluster approach. It is shown that the EFG tensor at the Al_tetr sites is described well taking into account the nearest neighbors (an [AlO₄]^?5 cluster), whereas for the Al_oct sites the effect of more distant ions is important. The results are compared with the available experimental data and the results of band calculations.     

Electronic structure of α-Al2O3 slabs: A local environment study

In this work we performed an ab initio/Density Functional Theory (DFT) study of structural and electronic properties of the (0 0 1) α-Al₂O₃ surface. For this study we used two methods with different basis set: the Full-Potential Augmented Plane Wave plus local orbital (FP-APW+lo) and a linear combination of numerical localized atomic orbital basis sets, employing the WIEN2k code and the SIESTA code, respectively. In order to calculate the structural and electronic properties of the reconstructed surface, we calculated the final equilibrium atomic position with the SIESTA code and then the electric-field gradient (EFG) at Al sites was calculated with the FP-APW+lo code using the optimized positions. Using this procedure we found equilibrium structures with comparative lower energy than those obtained using only the FP-APW+lo method. The EFG tensor and the local structure for Al were studied as a function of the depth from the surface for the relaxed structures. We found that distances down to 6 Å from the surface are sufficient to converge the EFG and the Al–O distances to bulk values. The predicted bulk EFG at the Al site is in good agreement with available experimental values. These results can be used for local probes purposes, e.g., in the case of doping, with important sensitivity for probes located close to the top of the surface, in particular for distances smaller than 6 Å.     

Electric field gradients in PrBa2 Cu 3 O 7 : LSDA+U results and comparison with experiment

Electric-field gradient (EFG) and asymmetry parameter (η) at all oxygen and copper sites of nonsuperconducting PrBa₂Cu₃O₇ (Pr123) compound were calculated using the full-potential (linearized)-augmented-plane-wave plus local orbitals method. Exchange and correlation effects were treated by LSDA+U for Cu(3d) and Pr(4f) electrons. The effects of changing screened Coulomb parameters U_Pr, U_Cu1, and U_Cu2 on the results were individually studied. The calculated EFG of O2 site is close to the EFG of O3 site at variance with the experimental result. It was shown that by increasing superconducting holes in O2 and O3 sites the EFG at these sites increase and vice versa. The most famous theories which have been proposed to explain the suppression of superconductivity in perfect (without any mis-substitution or other defects) Pr123 compound are not consistent with the experimental EFG at O2 and O3 sites. By replacing one Pr atom at the Ba site on unit cell of Pr123 (Pr_Ba), it was shown that Pr_Ba mis-substitution reduces the superconducting holes in both O2 and O3 sites and could be responsible for the suppuration of superconductivity in Pr123 samples. It is very probable that the unusual behaviors of experimental EFG at O2 and O3 sites of Pr123 are related to oxygen defects which are produced with Pr_Ba mis-substitution.     

SC-molecular/cluster calculations of the electric field gradient on 5sp-impurities (Ag-Xe) in cadmium — Volume and surface effects

The electric field gradient (EFG) on impurity atoms (Ag-Xe) in hcp Cd are calculated within the SC local density molecular/cluster approach using 27 atoms. The systematic trend and change of sign with increasing impurity charge, is well reproduced and explained by a successive population of hybridized p_z and p_x, p_y orbitals. Results on the volume and c/a dependence of the EFG will also be presented, as well as on the surface EFG.     

Non-ionic contributions to the electric-field gradient at 111Cd/181Ta impurities in bixbyites

The electric-field-gradient (EFG) tensor at both cation sites of the bixbyite structure in ¹⁸¹Hf-implanted Lu- and Sm-sesquioxides was determined by the PAC technique. The cumulated EFG data at Ta-impurity sites in binary oxides enable us to discuss the “universal” character of the empirical correlation between local and ionic contributions to the EFG in these systems. An EFG factorization in terms of the electronic characteristics of the probe and the geometry of the cation coordination is proposed, which explains the experimental EFG results at Ta/Cd impurity sites in bixbyites and agrees with a simplified decomposition of the EFG valence contribution coming from ab-initio calculations. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Electric field gradient in bixbyite rare-earth oxides R2O3 (R=Tl,Eu, Lu,Tm) measured by perturbed angular correlation

The electric field gradient (EFG) at ¹¹¹Cd nuclei dilutely substituting the cation site in bixbyite rare-earth oxides Tl₂O₃, Eu₂O₃, Lu₂O₃ and Tm₂O₃ has been measured using perturbed angular correlation technique. The ¹¹¹In(EC) ¹¹¹Cd probe nuclei were introduced into the samples by thermal diffusion. The experimental EFG values are compared with those calculated using the point charge model (PCM). The results are discussed in terms of a correlation between the electric field gradient and cation–oxygen bond length in metal oxides. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The effects of concentration and temperature on the EFG generated by N.N. Pd impurities in a cubic Ag host

The time differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) method is used to investigate the electric field gradients (EFG) generated by Pd impurity atoms alloyed into the cubic Ag host. As the concentration of the impurity is increased from 0.25 to 2.5 at.% we observed in detail how different near neighbour (n.n.) sites to the probe nuclei are populated, creating different EFG. The temperature dependence of the different EFG for a sample with 0.5 at.% of Pd showed that all follow theT ^3/2 law found previously for other doped cubic systems. In addition we observed that the n.n. population of impurities is strongly related to the thermal treatment of the sample.Work supported in part by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico and Fianciadora de Estudos e Projectos.     

Effect of vacancy diffusion on NQR parameters in LaF3

A simple model calculation of the electric field gradient (EFG) at the La site in crystalline LaF₃ was carried out using Bertaut's method in order to elucidate a possible relation between the anomalous temperature dependence of the asymmetry parameter of the EFG found in the ¹³⁹La nuclear quadrupole resonance and the vacancy-mediated diffusion of the fluorine anions. Redistribution of some particular fluorine species among the four crystallographically inequivalent positions between their original sites and the Schottky-type vacancy sites via rapid diffusion contributes to the reduction of the asymmetry of the EFG, this being consistent with the experimental fact that the asymmetry parameter decreases sharply above room temperature.     

FLAPW calculations of the EFG in semimetallic arsenic and antimony under varying pressure

The variation of the electric field gradient (EFG) at nuclear sites with pressure in semimetallic arsenic and antimony has been calculated using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) method. The results are compared with NQR data, which are available up to a pressure of 2 GPa. The calculated EFG depends sensitively on the values of the lattice parameters used. A theoretical investigation of the relationship between c/a and the internal parameter z, using FLAPW methods, has been carried out and compared with available X-ray diffraction data for arsenic and antimony. For antimony, the FLAPW calculations give results which are consistent with the experimental pressure variation of both the lattice parameters and the EFG. In the As case, the use of theoretical values of z leads to good agreement with the measured pressure variation of the EFG. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mössbauer Studies on Nanocrystalline Diol Capped γ-Fe2O3

Nanocrystalline indium (nano-In) was prepared with different particle sizes by electrochemical deposition. The temperature dependence of the local electric field gradient (EFG) of nano-In was investigated in a temperature range of 20–300 K using the probe ¹¹¹In for perturbed γγ angular correlation (PAC) experiments. The temperature dependence of the EFG of nano-In can be described by a (1−BT ^3/2) dependence as in bulk-In. It is shown that the low temperature value of the EFG and the proportionality constant B vary systematically with particle size.     

On the “naive” model of EFG in hcp metals

In the “naive” but fairly successful model by Bodenstedt and Perscheid, the electric field gradient (EFG) in a hcp s-p metal is first evaluated by the lattice sum method, postulating a conduction electron charge shift and approximating the new conduction electron distribution by point charges. Adding to this EFG, a contribution due to the anisotropy of lattice vibrations, i.e. (<z ²>−<x ²>), was presumed to give the total temperature-dependent EFG. We find, however, from the EFG results of the present calculation for¹¹¹CdCd and the original result for⁶⁷ZnZn, that the experimental data are better represented without the addition of the anisotropic vibration term. This finding, as well as the outline of the present evaluation of <z ²> and <x ²> and hence the EFG for Cd, are discussed.