A M�ssbauer and ESR study of LiNbO3-Fe2O3 for low Fe2O3 concentrations

Samples of the system LiNbO3-Fe2O3 prepared by water quenching and by the double-roller quenching method in the range up to 24 mol% Fe2O3 were investigated by Mossbauer and ESR spectroscopy. In the water quenched samples up to 11 mol% Fe2O3 only the Fe3+ and the Fe2+ valence states could be detected. The Fe2+ concentration decreased with increasing Fe2O3 content. Above 11 mol% Fe2O3 magnetically split Mossbauer spectra indicated the presence of Fe2O3 clusters. The isomer shift values of Fe3+ as a function of Fe2O3 concentration showed jumps at 6 and 11 mol% Fe2O3, whereas no significant changes could be detected in the quadrupole splitting values. The ESR data already exhibited the existenc…

Poster contributions

Mössbauer Spectroscopic Evidence of Angle-Dependent Intersystem Crossing in LiNbO3:Fe3+

M\"ossbauer emission spectra of LiNb${\mathrm{O}}_{3}$:$^{57}\mathrm{Co}$ single crystals in magnetic fields up to 5 T at 4.2 K show initial populations of the $^{6}A_{1\mathrm{g}}$ Zeeman substates of ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ which depend strongly on the angle between the crystallographic $c$ axis and the magnetic field. This is interpreted in terms of a crystal-field effect on excited states which influences the initial populations of the Zeeman sublevels of the $^{6}A_{1\mathrm{g}}$ ground term after the electron-capture decay of $^{57}\mathrm{Co}$. An intersystem crossing process due to orbit-lattice interaction can fairly well explain the angular dependence.