ACTA

Effect of Neutron Irradiation on the EPR Spectra of CuGeO₃

E. Mosiniewicz-Szablewska^a, L. Gładczuk^a, H.A. Dąbkowska^b, B. Pytel^c and H. Szymczak^a
^a Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotników 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland
^b Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
^c Institute of Atomic Energy, Otwock-Świerk, Poland

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The influence of neutron irradiation on the electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of the spin-Peierls compound CuGeO₃ was investigated in the wide temperature range 2-300 K. It was found that the irradiation induced appreciable changes in the EPR signal intensity, resonance line width and g-factor of this material. It was also shown that the irradiation leads to a decrease in the spin-Peierls transition temperature. For higher irradiation doses, an antiferromagnetically ordered phase can be observed at lower temperatures. This phase coexists with the spin-Peierls phase. The observed decrease in the spin-Peierls transition temperature after irradiation may be associated with some changes in topological and chemical short-range order or with the transmutation of the fraction of ⁶³Cu in the ⁶³Cu(n,α)⁶⁰Co reaction.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.97.897
PACS numbers: 75.30.Kz, 75.50.Ee, 76.30.Da