Nuclear magnetic resonance studies in rare earth ternary phosphides

Abstract

The results of ³¹P Knight shift (KS) and spin-lattice relaxation time (T₁) measurements in the temperature interval 4.2-300 K are reported for the compounds RENi₂P₂(RE=Ce, Eu, Yb) in order to understand the nature of the ground state in these compounds. KS results conclusively establish that all these compounds exhibit non-magnetic ground states. The temperature dependence of spin-fluctuation temperature (T_sf) in each case is estimated from the measured data. For EuNi₂P₂ the values of T_sf above 77 K qualitatively agree with those obtained from Mössbauer and susceptibility data employing ionic interconfigurational fluctuation model, but disagree at lower temperatures.