Quadrupole Coupling in Lithium Nitrate

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Abstract
The value of the Li7 quadrupole coupling constant in a single crystal of LiNO3 has been found to be 35.5±0.2 kc. It is expected that a reliable estimate of the quadrupole moment of Li7 may be made with the observed coupling constant and the point‐charge field gradient, because of the good agreement for Na23 in the case of the isomorphous crystal NaNO3. The value found in this manner is ±0.069 b. The LiNO3 crystal was γ irradiated to facilitate the measurements, and a γ‐irradiated crystal of NaNO3 was studied for comparison. It appears that the broadening of the Na23 satellite lines in the irradiated NaNO3 results from a relaxation process and not from a wide distribution of static field gradients, and it is concluded that γ irradiation has little or no effect on the Li7 coupling constant in LiNO3. A precise knowledge of the Li7 quadrupole moment would provide a test of the ionic model in LiNO3.