Electron paramagnetic resonance study of Pr4+ ions doped in BaHfO3 perovskite

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of tetravalent praseodymium i ons doped in the cubic perovskite compound BaHfO3 have been measured at 4.2 K. A very large hyperfine interaction with the Pr-141 nucleus was observed in the spectrum of Pr4+/BaHfO3. The results were analyzed based on the weak field approximation, and the g value (/g/ = 0.619) and a hyperfine couplin g constant (A = 0.0589 cm(-1)) were obtained. The measured g value is much smaller than /(-10)(7)/, which indicates that the crystal field effect on t he behavior of a 4 f electron is large. These g and A values were compared with the EPR results for other f(1) ions in an octahedral crystal field. (C ) 2001 Academic Press.