Paramagnetic Scattering of Neutrons by Trivalent Rare-Earth Ions in an Octahedral Crystal Field

The energy distribution of neutrons scattered by trivalent rare-earth compounds has been measured at room temperature. The paramagnetic lines, corresponding to transitions within the ground-state multiplet of the rare-earth ion split by the octahedral crystal field, are superposed on the nuclear parts of the energy distribution. Experimental conditions and computational methods are described to determine the position and shape of the paramagnetic lines. The resulting values of the crystal field splitting and the paramagnetic line width are discussed. (author)