Manifestation of the Hanle effect in submillimeter EPR spectroscopy of thulium impurity ions in synthetic forsterite

Abstract

A signal related to the spin level crossing in a zero magnetic field—the Hanle effect—has been registered for the first time in the EPR spectrum. It has been shown that, in the general case, the shape of the signal is determined by two qualitatively different mechanisms: (i) the interference of unsteady-state contributions to the dynamics of atomic coherences (electric or magnetic quantum transition moments with certain phases) with close frequencies (“beats at a zero frequency”) and (ii) the summation of resonant signals determined by the steady-state dynamics of the same atomic coherences. The relaxation time of spin coherences has been determined for the EPR transition of Tm³⁺ ions in synthetic forsterite.