²F_5/2 Manifold Splitting of Ce³⁺ in PbCeX (X= Te, Se, S): A Magnetic Susceptibility Study

Abstract

The magnetic susceptibility of Pb1-xCexX (X = S, Se and Te) crystals with several Cerium concentrations ranging from x = 0.006 to 0.036 has been measured between 2 K and 300 K. The experimental susceptibility curves were found to be consistent with a 2F5/2 lowest manifold for Ce3+ ions; the cubic crystal-field splitting values of 2F5/2 were estimated to be about 340 K, 440 K and 540 K for Pb1-xCexTe, Pb1-xCexSe, and Pb1-xCexS, respectively. For all the studied samples, it was found that the 7 doublet lies below the 8 quadruplet. These results confirm that Ce3+ ions substitute Pb2+ in the host crystals. Furthermore, the effective Landé factors were determined by X-band (~9.5 GHz) Electron Paramagnetic Measurements (EPR) to be g = 1.333, 1.364, and 1.402 for Ce ions in PbX, X = S, Se, and Te, respectively.