The internal electric fieldgradient in antiferroelectric PbZrO3 studied by perturbed angular correlations

The internal electric fieldgradient (EFG) at the Zr-site in antiferroelectric polycristalline PbZrO₃ has been investigated as a function of temperature by time differential angular correlation measurements. For the application of this technique PbZrO₃ was doped with small amounts of radioactive¹⁸¹Hf. In the antiferroelectric phase of PbZrO₃ the EFG decreases continously with increasing temperature and exhibits a sharp discontinuity at 230 °C, the Curie point of the compound. In the cubic phase a small remaining EFG is observed which is probably caused by lattice imperfections in the source. The antiferroelectric distortion of the lattice decreases slightly when the temperature approaches the Curie point, as shown by the temperature dependence of the asymmetry parameter of the EFG. The measured EFG at room temperature is compared with the result of a lattice sum calculation.     

Hyperfine spectroscopic study of the metal-insulator transition in V2O3

The metal-insulator (M-I) transition in vanadium sesquioxide V₂O₃ has been investigated by time differential perturbed angular correlation measurements of the electric fieldgradient (EFG) and the magnetic hyperfine field at dilute¹¹¹Cd impurities. The EFG undergoes a first-order change at the M-I transition at T_t=160 K, but does not reflect the high temperature resistivity anomaly. The increase of the EFG with temperature in the metallic phase can be attributed to thermal variations of the oxygen sublattice. The temperature dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field in the insulating phase follows a Brioullin function with a saturation value of H_hf(O)=15 KOe and an extrapolated Neel temperature, which, depending on the impurity concentration, varies between 188 and 230 K.     

Study of highT c superconductivity in Y1Ba2Cu3O7−x by PAC

HighT _c superconductivity in the YBaCuO superconductor has been investigated through the quadrupole interaction of the probe nuclei⁹⁹Tc. The quadrupole interactions were measured by the TDPAC method from 77 to 296 K. The probe nuclei⁹⁹Tc were introduced into the YBaCuO superconducting specimen by diffusion. The derived electric quadrupole interaction parameters show that the probe nuclei are subject to a unique EFG interaction and occupy a substitutional lattice site in the YBaCuO superconductor. A strong EFG of 10¹⁹ V/cm² was observed. The temperature dependence of the EFG exhibits a linear decrease with temperature increase. Anomalies of both EFG and ν were found in the superconducting transition temperature region. The role of the oxygen vacancies in the Cu−O chains is discussed.     

Electric field gradient for indium in Sb and Bi semimetals

Using time differential pertubed angular correlation technique we have measured QI frequency at¹¹⁷In in semimetals Sb and Bi at temperatures 77 K and 300 K. The drastic difference of _Q for¹¹⁷In and¹¹⁹In in these hosts suggests two sites for the probes due to different methods of sample preparation. The magnitudes of EFG deviate completely from those predicted by covalent bond model but they seem to fit in the general trend for¹¹¹Cd and¹¹⁷In QI frequencies in metallic hosts.     

TDPAC measurements on phase transition and hydrogen up-take in C15 laves phases

Intermetallic compounds with C15 structure are studied by TDPAC in the search for changes in the electric field gradient (EFG) on¹⁸¹Ta probes due to martensitic phase transition and hydrogen absorption. The residual low EFG of the cubic phase of HfV₂, ZrV₂ and Hf₅Zr₅V₂ is distinctly increased in the low temperature modification. Hydrogen does not affect the distribution of probe sites, but influences the features of the martensitic transition. In TaV₂ the sites with low EFG are split into an unperturbed and a strongly perturbed fraction.     

Measurement of Quadrupole Interactions in LaMO3 (M = Cr,Fe, Co) Perovskites by TDPAC

The perturbed angular correlation (PAC) technique has been used to study the electric field gradient (EFG) in LaCoO₃ perovskite. The results are compared with those for LaCrO₃, LaFeO₃ measured earlier. The PAC probe, ¹¹¹In → ¹¹¹Cd, was introduced in the oxide lattice by means of chemical reaction during sample preparation. In the present work, the temperature dependence of the electric quadrupole interaction parameters, for LaCoO₃ was investigated. The resulting systematics of EFG at ¹¹¹Cd, in La(Cr,Fe,Co)O₃ perovskites, reveals a linear dependence with temperature. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Temperature dependence studies of the EFG at111Cd probes located in some intermetallic compounds

The temperature dependences of the electric field gradient (EFG) at¹¹¹Cd probes in nickel-indium and indium-tellurium intermetallic compounds have been studied by means of the time differential perturbed angular correlation of gamma rays (TDPAC). The room temperature interaction frequencies (e ² Qq/h) in each case were determined as In₂Te₅ (136 MHz), Ni₃In (13.8 MHz), NiIn (252 and 337 MHz) (two sites), and Ni₂In₃ (162 and 266 MHz) (two sites). The TDPAC pattern of¹¹¹Cd in NiIn did not agree with the previous assignment of the crystal structure. A general discussion of the results related to other temperature dependence studies of the EFG is presented and a general trend is discerned.Supported in part by the US Energy and Research Development Administration.     

Mössbauer study of synthetic jarosites

The structure around the metal site of mavicyanin, a protein molecule with a copper site, was investigated in solution by using time-differential perturbed angular correlation of ¹¹⁷In. The electric field gradient (EFG) of the metal site was deduced from the measurement. It demonstrated that the site in a mutant-type mavicyanin, Thr15Ala-Mav, gives an EFG different from that in the wild-type mavicyanin does. The pH dependence of the EFG was also observed for both proteins.     

Mössbauer study of the magnetic and electric hyperfine interaction of dilute57Fe impurities in rare earth metal hosts

The hyperfine interaction of dilute⁵⁷Fe in the rare earth (RE)metals Gd to Lu was investigated by Mössbauer measurements with⁵⁷Co doped RE sources. In all hosts well split, 2-lines spectra were observed at room temperature, with slight asymmetries of the line intensities in some cases. The quadrupole splitting eQV_zz/2 increases from 0.29 mm/sec for Gd to 0.50 mm/sec for Tb, and decreases by less than 10 % between Tb and Lu. Only about 10 % of the corresponding electric fieldgradient (EFG) can be accounted for by the ionic EFG on a substitutional RE site. The temperature dependence of the EFG was measured in the case of Tb. No variation within 3 percent was found between 300 K and 700 K. Measurements of the magnetic hyperfine interaction at low temperatures were carried out in Tb. The saturation field of⁵⁷Fe in this host is H_hf(FeTb;4.2 K)=25(2) KOe. The temperature dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field does not follow the host magnetization (T_c=220K) but vanishes at about 80 K. Similar anomalies of H_hf(T) have previously been observed for other transition element impurities in the RE ferromagnets.     

Temperature dependence of the electric quadrupole interaction in PbHfO3

The temperature dependence of the Electric Field Gradient (EFG) in PbHfO₃ was studied in the temperature range 25–225°C by the Differential Perturbed Angular Correlation method. In the two anti-ferroelectric phases below 215°C, not too close to either transition temperature, the EFG decreases as the temperature increases toward T_c. Just above T_c an abrupt rise of EFG was observed indicating a critically behaving contribution to EFG. The results are interpreted in terms of a model based on the local static as well as time-dependent changes of the electric environment, at a lattice site. In accord with the predictions of this model the results exhibit qualitatively the P²_s temperature dependence of EFG far from T_c, where P_s is the sub-lattice polarization, while in close proximity to T_c the dominant contribution to EFG is due to the susceptibility X_q connected with the soft-mode fluctuations. The derived critical exponents are in agreement with previous experimental results on related compounds and with theoretical predictions. A hitherto unobserved additional component of V_zz was established, behaving critically at the antiferro-paraelectric transition at 215°C. This new component is interpreted to originate in local fluctuations connected with the central mode.     

Electric quadrupole interaction of210Po(6+) in Bi single crystal

The electric quadrupole coupling constant of the²¹⁰Po(6⁺) isomer in a Bi single crystal was measured as a function of the temperature using the time-differential perturbed angular correlations technique. The electric field gradient (EFG) for Po in Bi is found to be temperature independent in the range 77–477 K. Using a calculated value of the nuclear quadrupole moment, the magnitude of the EFG is derived, and in turn serves to re-examine the systematics of quadrupole moments of λh ₉ ^2/2 configurations in the lead region.     

The electric field gradient and its temperature dependence for ruthenium in scandium and yttrium

The electric field gradients (EFG) for ruthenium in scandium and yttrium metal were determined by TDPAC measurements to be 19(4) × 10¹⁷ V/cm² and 5.5(12) × 10¹⁷ V/cm² respectively at room temperature. The EFG for Ru in Sc was found to vary considerably in the temperature range from 14 to 700 K, whereas for Ru in Y only an extremely small temperature dependence of the EFG was observed.     

Isotope ratio of Cl NQR spin-lattice relaxation times in 1D hydrogen-bonding system of tetramethylpyrazine-chloranilic acid at high temperatures

The temperature dependences of spin-lattice relaxation time T ₁ of ³⁵Cl and ³⁷Cl NQR were studied for the co-crystal of tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) with chloranilic acid (H₂ca), TMP-H₂ca, in which one-dimensional hydrogen bonding is formed by alternate arrangement of TMP and H₂ca. The isotope ratio ³⁷Cl T ₁ / ³⁵Cl T ₁ was determined to be 1.0 ± 0.1 above ca. 290 K where a steep decrease of spin-lattice relaxation time T ₁ with increasing temperature was observed. In this temperature range it is suggested that the relaxation is originated from the slow fluctuation of electric field gradient (EFG). Beside EFG fluctuation due to the external-charge-density fluctuation, the small angle reorientation of the quantization axis triggered by a proton transfer motion between N...H-O and N-H...O hydrogen bonding states is proposed.     

Electric field gradients in Hf2Fe

Perturbed Angular Correlations (PAC) technique was applied to measure the electric field gradients (EFG) at ¹⁸¹Ta sites in Hf₂Fe. The compound has the cubic structure of the Ti₂Ni prototype with two non‐equivalent crystallographic sites for Hf atoms. EFGs for the two sites were measured as a function of the temperature. In addition, one more EFG was observed, which was assigned to the presence of defects in the lattice. The ratio of the measured EFG at the regular lattice sites has been used to assign charges to the ions through a simple calculation using the point charge model and it is shown that the lattice symmetry can explain the very different EFG at both sites. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Pressure dependence of the electric field gradient in Sb and Sb1−x M x (M=ln,Zn, Ge,Pb, Cd,Sn) at the site of111Cd

Using the¹¹¹Cd-TDPAC (time differential perturbated angular correlation) method, the pressure dependence of the electric field gradient (EFG) in Sb and Sb_1–x M _x (M=ln, Zn, Ge, Pb, Cd, Sn) was investigated. The application of a phenomenological ansatz for the parametrisation of the pressure and temperature dependence of the EFG made it possible to combine temperature data gained in former studies [1], [2] with the pressure dependent data presented in this paper. The resulting pressure dependence of –2±0.2 MHz/kbar is shown to be independent of concentration and element of admixture. Results for the volume and explicit temperature dependence agree with existing information on the mixed system Sb_1–x M _x (M=ln, Zn, Ge, Pb, Cd, Sn); the investigation of the EFG in Sb_1–x–y M _x Pb _y showed that the resulting EFG may be interpreted as the weighted sum of the individual contributions of the two metals.This paper is dedicated to Prof. Dr. W. Kreische on the occasion of his 60th aniversary on 02.02.1995     

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.     

Hyperfine interactions in 111Cd-doped lutetium sesquioxide

We report here first Perturbed Angular Correlation (PAC) results of the electric field gradient (EFG) characterisation at ¹¹¹Cd impurities located at both non-equivalent cation sites of the bixbyite structure of Lutetium sesquioxide, between room temperature (RT) and 1273 K. The comparison with results coming from a systematic ¹¹¹Cd PAC study in bixbyites and with point-charge model (PCM) predictions shows the presence of a trapped defect at RT in the neighbourhood of the asymmetric cation site, which is completely removed at T > 623 K. The anomalous EFG temperature dependence in Lu₂O₃ can be described in the frame of a “two-state” model with fluctuating interactions, which enables the experimental determination of the acceptor energy level introduced by the Cd impurity in the band-gap of the semiconductor and the estimation of the oxygen vacancy density in the sample. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

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].     

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.     

Nuclear acoustic resonance of V51 in a single crystal of V3Si above and below the martensitic transformation

The EFG and the Knight shift anisotropy of V⁵¹ in a single crystal of V³Si have been measured both above and below the martensitic transformation temperature T_m, using the nuclear acoustic resonance technique. Deviations of the axial symmetry of the EFG tensor have been found below T_m. The orientation of the tetragonal c axis in the crystal is also given.