Quadrupole interaction of $^{8}$Li and $^{9}$Li in LiNbO$_{3}$ and the quadrupole moment of $^{9}$Li

The quadrupole interaction of nuclear spin polarized8Li (I=2) and9Li (I=3/2) in LiNbO3 has been studied at room temperature. The polarization was achieved by optical pumping of a fast atomic beam with circularly polarized laser light. The atoms were implanted into a hexagonal LiNbO3 single crystal and the quadrupole splitting ofβ-NMR spectra was measured. A ratio of ¦Q(9Li)/Q(8Li)¦=0.88(4) for the nuclear quadrupole moments was deduced, yielding a new value of ¦Q(9Li)¦=25.3 (9) mb for the quadrupole moment of9Li.