The Jahn-Teller effect in Cr5+ -doped PbTiO3: a multi-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance study.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of Cr5+ defects incorporated on Ti(4+) sites in powdered ceramics of PbTiO3 were investigated in the temperature range 50-400 K at 9 GHz (X), 34 GHz (Q) and 94 GHz (W band). The [Formula: see text] Jahn-Teller effect stabilizes the vibronic ground state of the 3d(1) electron of the Cr(5+) ion and leads to a tetragonally distorted defect- O6 octahedron with the point symmetry D(4h). The spontaneous electrical polarization present in the ferroelectric phase of PbTiO3 appears as a further perturbation producing an additional g-tensor contribution by the quadratic field effect. Its symmetry is dependent on the orientation of the electrical polarization with respect to the Jahn-Teller distortion axis, the tetragonal axis of the defect- O6 octahedron. If the polarization of a domain is anti- or parallel to this axis, the local tetragonal symmetry of the Cr5+ ion persists whereas it is reduced by a perpendicular orientation. Anisotropic EPR spectra of tetragonally and orthorhombic distorted Cr(5+)O6(12-) are detected at low temperatures. Increasing the temperature, the peaks of the two spectra are broadened and a motionally averaged isotropic spectrum appears at 200 K.

Electron paramagnetic resonance linewidth narrowing of Gd3+ ions in Y-doped ceria nanocrystals with decreasing crystallite size.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of Gd(3+) ions in crystalline Ce(1-x-y)Gd(x)Y(y)O(2-[0.5*(x+y)]) (x=0.0025, y=0.10, and 0.25) with crystallite sizes ranging from 600 nm down to 5 nm have been measured at X-band and at Q-band near liquid He and room temperatures. The EPR line shape is controlled by the low-symmetry surrounding of Gd(3+) ions in a coordination environment with one oxygen-vacancy and seven oxygen nearest-neighbors forming GdO(7) polyhedra. These coordination polyhedra are characterized by a wide distribution of crystal field parameters that primarily controls the EPR linewidth. The EPR linewidth of the central (-1/2 <--> +1/2) transition is observed to decrease systematically with decreasing crystallite size. This observation implies that the size of the crystallites in the nanoregime may have important influence on the energetics of vacancy distribution in crystalline materials.