19F nuclear spin relaxation and spin diffusion effects in the single ion magnet LiYF4:Ho3+

TL;DR

This study investigates how 19F nuclear spins relax and diffuse in LiYF4:Ho3+ crystals, revealing temperature and magnetic field effects, and the role of spin diffusion and electron-nuclear interactions.

Contribution

It provides a detailed theoretical and experimental analysis of nuclear spin relaxation mechanisms considering dipole interactions and spin diffusion in a single ion magnet.

Findings

Non-exponential magnetization recovery at intermediate temperatures

Increased relaxation rates at electron-nuclear avoided level crossings

Spin diffusion limits the relaxation process

Abstract

Temperature and magnetic field dependences of the 19F nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in a single crystal of LiYF4 doped with holmium are described by an approach based on a detailed consideration of the magnetic dipole-dipole interactions between nuclei and impurity paramagnetic ions and nuclear spin diffusion processes. The observed non-exponential long time recovery of the nuclear magnetization after saturation at intermediate temperatures is in agreement with predictions of the spin-diffusion theory in a case of the diffusion limited relaxation. At avoided level crossings in the spectrum of electron-nuclear states of the Ho3+ ion, rates of nuclear spin-lattice relaxation increase due to quasi-resonant energy exchange between nuclei and paramagnetic ions, in contrast to the predominant role played by electronic cross-relaxation processes in the low-frequency ac-susceptibility.