Structural characterization of the and compounds by means of hyperfine interaction studies

¹  IFJ PAN, 31-342 Krakow, Poland
²  II. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Göttingen - Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
³  Instituut vor Kern- en Stralingsfisica, K. U. Leuven - Celestijnenlaan 200 D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
⁴  Instituto di Fisica, Universidade de Sao Paulo - CP 66318, 05315-970, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

Received: 10 November 2006
Accepted: 20 December 2006

Abstract

Electric-field gradients have been measured in the isostructural intermetallic compounds and , using radioactive Ta hyperfine probes. In both compounds, two well-defined electric-field gradients have been observed, whose temperature dependence follows the rule in the temperature range 301170 K. Using the full-potential augmented plane-wave + local-orbitals formalism, the electric-field gradients have been calculated. On the basis of the ¹⁸¹Ta hyperfine interaction parameters, the possible Hf/Zr lattice sites have been assigned. In this way the controversy concerning the lattice structure of these compounds deduced from X-ray diffraction has been solved.