The structure and spin dynamics of lanthanide-bearing silicate glasses

The structure of 3Na2O·R2O3·6SiO2 (R=Nd, Yb and Lu) glasses has been studied by time-of-flight neutron diffraction. The average Si-O and O-O nearest-neighbor coordination is found to be similar to those of the SiO4 tetrahedral units in vitreous SiO2 and other silicate glasses. The rare-earth (RE) ions coordinate with no more than seven nearest-neighbor oxygen atoms. The dynamic and static response of these glasses and their isochemical crystalline analogs has been investigated by inelastic neutron scattering and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The magnetic excitation spectra were analyzed by a ligand-field model using a method of descending symmetry. The correlation between short-range atomic order in a network glass and magnetic interactions of the RE ions with the local environment is discussed