127I NMR study of quadrupolar echoes in KI

Abstract

Potassium iodide (K 121I), like KBr and many other alkali halide solids, has cubic symmetry. Distortion of this cubic symmetry in single crystals of KI creates electric field gradients of sufficient strength for the quadrupolar interactions to dominate the dynamics of the system. Simple one-, two-, and three-pulse sequences applied to such crystals permit the observation, in the time domain, of the solid- or quadrupolar-echo phenomenon for spin I = 5 2 ( 127 I) . Using the multipole approach to interpret the experimental responses of three-pulse sequences, the characteristic relaxation behavior of the first-, second-, third-, and fifth-rank zero- and multiquantum polarizations are determined. The experimental determination of distinct relaxation times for the higher rank polarizations in both KI and KBr ( I = 3 2 ) lends credibility to the concept of the multipoles as physical quantities.