The Local Environment near a Neodymium Ion Doped in Y2SiO5

Abstract

The local environment of neodymium ions in a Y₂SiO₅ crystal is investigated. The distances between the unpaired electron on Nd³⁺ and the magnetic nuclei of nearby Y³⁺ ions are determined from the hyperfine interaction (HFI) parameters obtained from electron spin echo envelope modulation datasets. Available X-ray diffraction data from pure crystals allowed the calculation of distances between different ions thus providing estimations of HFI parameters for Nd-doped single crystals. The simultaneous comparison of HFI parameters and radius-vectors allows the local environment to be derived, and the degree of the distortion generated by impurity ions to be estimated. It is shown that the distances between the neighboring yttrium sites of the unaltered and doped crystals are consistent within 5% accuracy.