EPR investigation of Cu2+ tetramers in ferroelectric CsH2PO4

Abstract

EPR study of CsH2PO4 (CDP) single crystals with 0.005 mol % of Cu2+ at room temperature reveals isolated Cu2+ (S=(1/2)) complexes with four ligand coordination and spin Hamiltonian parameters gpara=2.2575, g⊥=2.1866, Apara=30 G, and A⊥=27 G. At temperatures below 250 K the spectra were observed to have fine structure and are described as arising from a Cu2+ tetramer with effective spin S=2 and spin Hamiltonian parameters D=0.181 cm−1, E=-0.081 cm−1, a=0.001 cm−1, b=0, and c=-0.021 cm−1. Also reported are transitions within the S=1 multiplet of the tetramer, and a microscopic model of superexchange interaction has been used to evaluate the parameters Dx=0.543 cm−1 and Ex=-0.159 cm−1. A tetramer model as well as a temperature dependence of the ratio of tetramer–to–single-ion intensity is presented.