Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Mössbauer Effect Study of Sn¹¹⁹ in Rare Earth‐Tin Intermetallic Compounds

Abstract

Abstract The nuclear magnetic resonance and Mössbauer effect of Sn 119 have been studied in the cubic intermetallic compounds RSn 3 (R = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, and Yb). Both the isotropic and anisotropic components of the Knight shift were determined in the temperature range 77 to 400°K. In the cases of PrSn 3 and NdSn 3 in which the shift measurements are proportional to the magnetic susceptibility, the results may be understood in terms of the Ruderman‐Kittel‐Kasuya‐Yosida theory, with an exchange interaction, T = −0.2 eV. The cases of CeSn 3 and SmSn 3 do not appear to be interpretable in terms of the RKKY theory. For PrSn 3 , NdSn 3 , and SmSn 3 the Mössbauer effect of the Sn 119 yielded a resolved quadrupole splitting of approximately 1.1 mm/s, independent of temperature in the range 4.2 to 300°K. The isomer shift was +0.70 mm/s, relative to Mg 2 Sn, also independent of temperature. The measured quadrupole coupling has been compared with that expected on the basis of the ionic model. No magnetic splitting was ever unambiguously observed, even at 1.5°K. Assuming that the magnetic splitting remains masked by the quadrupole interaction leads to an estimate of H eff ≦ 9 × 10 3 Oe in PrSn 3 and NdSn 3 .