An investigation of the ground state of Cr2+ in MgO based on thermal conductivity measurements

L. J. Challis, A. M. de Goër, K. Guckelsberger, Glen A. Slack

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A Mathematical and Physical Sciences · 1972 · 36 citations · 11 references

Abstract

Abstract Measurements of the thermal conductivity of MgO doped with chromium in the temperature range 0.4 to 300 K indicate the existence of resonant scattering by Cr2+ ions at 5.2 and 21 cm-1. These measurements confirm that the ion cannot be described by simple crystal field theory or by static Jahn-Teller theory, but they are consistent with the dynamic Jahn-Teller theory of Fletcher & Stevens (1969) with the parameters 8 (tunnelling frequency) = 16 cm-1 and D (spin-orbit splitting) = 4 cm-1. It is not possible to determine the sign of the anharmonic term, B, from the measurements. These parameters differ significantly from those determined by Fletcher & Stevens and those determined by Ham (1971) from acoustic paramagnetic resonance data for Cr2+ in MgO. The data also appear to confirm earlier indications that strong coupled mode effects are present. The scattering in a Ni-doped specimen was found to be largely due to the difference in mass between the Ni and Mg ions, whereas that in Fe-doped specimens was largely due to a process resonant at ca. 100 cm-1.

References

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