Interpretation of the optical absorption spectrum and of the paramagnetic susceptibility of NdAlO3

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Abstract
The absorptionspectrum of pure rhombohedral NdAlO3 was determined at 4.2 K from 10 000 to 34 000 cm−1. Adding the levels determined for the 4 I multiplet by other authors, a total of 117 Stark levels was obtained. They were fitted to a mean square deviation of 13 cm−1 with a Hamiltonian involving 12 free atom parameters and six D 3 crystal field parameters applied on the 364 kets basis in the 4f 3 configuration. The values are B 0 2=−481 cm−1, B 0 4 =481 cm−1, B 3 4=−390 cm−1, B 0 6=−1700 cm−1, B 3 6=−950 cm−1, B 6 6=−1080 cm−1. Free atom parameters are very close to those of Nd3+ in LaCl3. The powderparamagneticsusceptibility was measured from 4 to 1000 K. The 1/χ versus T curve shows a pronounced curvature, even below 300 K, which is fairly well reproduced by a crystal‐field‐only calculation involving the complete wave vectors of the 18 lowest Kramers doublets.
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