Neutron study of crystal-field transitions in ErPO4

Abstract

The crystal-field splitting of the Er3+ ground multiplet 4I15/2 in ErPO4 is investigated by inelastic neutron scattering. Four excitations from the Γ7 ground state to the excited states and several transitions between the excited states have been identified. The observed transition energies and intensities are used to refine the parameters of the crystal-field potential. The calculated magnetic susceptibility χ(T) agrees well with experimental values from single-crystal measurements. A comparison of the neutron data with optical absorption and both nonresonance and resonance Raman scattering measurements has been made.