Impact of Zeeman and hyperfine interactions on the magnetic properties of paramagnetic metal Ions: I. Local interactions of the electron spin

Abstract

The anisotropic Zeeman interaction of an ion, and the strong hyperfine interaction with its own nucleus, can significantly influence its interactions with the local environment. These effects, including the reduction of the effective magnetization of the electron spin and the phase memory decay rate, are studied theoretically. Analytical expressions describing the mean magnetization of the electron spin are obtained. The results of the theoretical analysis and accompanying numerical computations show that the strong hyperfine interaction of the ion reduces its effective magnetization. In particular, a 7% reduction is found for the scandium endofullerene Sc2@C80(CH2Ph) under conditions typical of an X-band EPR experiment.