Observation of intermultiplet transitions in SmFe11Ti by inelastic magnetic neutron scattering.

Abstract

Magnetic neutron spectroscopy of ${\mathrm{SMFe}}_{11}$Ti reveals a dispersionless electronic excitation corresponding to transitions between levels of the exchange-split ground- and first-excited-state multiplets of the ${\mathrm{Sm}}^{3+}$ ion. The observed excitation energy of 175.5 meV at T=20 K may be accounted for in the framework of an exchange and crystal-field model by assuming a bare spin-orbit splitting of 129 meV for the J=5/2 and 7/2 multiplets. The neutron spectroscopy data are explained with the same parameters used to fit the experimental magnetization curves of single-crystal ${\mathrm{SmFe}}_{11}$Ti.