Abstract
The high local sensitivity of the crystal electric field (CEF) was used to determine the site where deuterium localizes in the solid solution phase PrNi 5D 0.44. This compound is a structural analogue of the well-known hydrogen storage intermetallic compound LaNi 5. The influence of deuterium dissolved in PrNi 5 on the CEF splitting of the Pr 3+ ground multiplet was investigated using the inelastic neutron scattering technique. A new method of describing the CEF in metals was developed to interpret the experimental data. This method is more physically meaningful than the effective point charge model. The experimental data obtained (a decrease of about 40% in the intensity of the main peak in the PrNi 5D 0.44 spectrum compared with the PrNi 5 spectrum and the appearance of an extra scattering peak in some spectral regions) and the results of the Pr 3+ ground state splitting calculations for the deuterated sample suggest that deuterium is located in the vicinity of the m site in PrNi 5D 0.44. The effective electrostatic potential of deuterium in PrNi 5 decreases less abruptly than the potential of the free deuterium (hydrogen) atom.
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