19F nuclear spin relaxation and spin diffusion effects in the single-ion magnet LiYF 4:Ho 3+

Temperature and magnetic field dependences of the 19F nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in a single crystal of LiYF 4 doped with holmium are described by an approach based on a detailed consideration of the magnetic dipole-dipole interactions between nuclei and impurity paramagnetic ions and nuclear spin diffusion processes. The observed non-exponential long time recovery of the nuclear magnetization after saturation at intermediate temperatures is in agreement with predictions of the spin-diffusion theory in a case of the diffusion limited relaxation. At avoided level crossings in the spectrum of electron-nuclear states of Ho 3 + ions, rates of nuclear spin-lattice relaxation increase due to quasi-resonant energy exchange between nuclei and paramagnetic ions in contrast to the predominant role played by electronic cross-relaxation processes in the low-frequency ac-susceptibility. © 2008 Springer