Electron paramagnetic resonance investigation of Dy3+ ions in Bi4Ge3O12 single crystals

An X-band electron paramagnetic resonance study at 5 K of Dy3+ ions in Bi4Ge3O12 single crystals is reported. The spectra have been attributed to a unique centre of Dy3+ located at the Bi3+ site. The spin-Hamiltonian parameters have been determined for the even isotopes of Dy, as well as for the isotopes 161Dy and 163Dy. Moreover, a detailed g-factor analysis has been carried out by obtaining the ground doublet wavefunction. To this purpose, we have employed an interpolated set of crystal-field Bnm parameters for Dy3+ which was estimated from the fitted Bnm sets of Nd3+ and Er3+ in Bi4Ge3O12. It is found that the interpolated set yields a satisfactory approach to the experimental g-factor values, which makes it feasible to predict the energy-level scheme for the ground manifold 6H15/2 of Dy3+ in this host. (author)