Electric dipole intensity parameters for the samarium 4f→ 4ftransitions in Na3[Sm(oxydiacetate)3] · 2NaClO4· 6H2O

Abstract

Optical intensity data available from axial and polarized orthoaxial absorption measurements on single crystals of Na3[Sm(oxydiacetate)3] · 2NaClO4 · 6H2O are analysed in terms of a 13-parameter expression for 4f → 4f transition dipole strengths. Twelve of the parameters in this expression are related to one-electron/one-photon electric-dipole transition processes occurring within the 4f 5 electronic configuration of Sm3+ (in a crystal field of D 3 symmetry), and one parameter reflects bulk sample refractivity effects on the magnetic-dipole contributions to observed line strengths. Both the electric-dipole and magnetic-dipole terms in the dipole strength expression contain matrix elements that require, for evaluation, eigenvectors of the crystal-field states involved in any given transition. These eigenvectors, expressed in a |(4f 5)SLJMJ > basis, are obtained from energy level calculations parametrized to yield optimal fits between calculated and observed crystal-field levels. The empirical intensity dat...