B-11 NMR study of calcium-hexaborides

Abstract

We have performed B-11 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements to look for microscopic evidence of the ferromagnetic state in several CaB6 single crystals. A number of B-11 NMR resonance peaks are observed with the frequency and intensity of those peaks distinctively changing depending on the angle between the crystalline axis and a magnetic field. Analyzing this behavior, we find that the electric field gradient tensor at the boron has its principal axis perpendicular to the six cubic faces with a quadrupole resonance frequency v(Q) approximate to 600 kHz. However, the satellite resonances are found to be made of two peaks. Detailed analysis of the four composite satellite peaks confirms that there are two different boron sites with slightly different v(Q)'s. This suggests that the boron octahedron cages are locally distorted. However, this distortion is not directly related to ferromagnetism. Even though the magnetization data highlight the ferromagnetic hysteresis, B-11 NMR linewidth and shift data show no clear microscopic evidence of the ferromagnetic state in several different compositions of CaB6 single crystals. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.