EPR study of Mn²⁺in ferroelastic BiVO₄single crystal: Monoclinic spin hamiltonian parameters and their temperature dependence

Abstract Zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters of Mn2+ in a BiVO4 single crystal obtained with a Q-band EPR spectrometer at room temperature are analyzed with the monoclinic spin Hamiltonian and compared with those of Baran et al. The ZFS Bk q shows that the site symmetry of Mn2+ (or Bi3+) center in the ferroelastic BiVO4 crystal is monoclinic. The temperature dependence of Mn2+ spectrum in BiVO4 is investigated in the X-band over the temperature range 3.8 K to 291 K. The axial ZFS parameter B2 0 for Mn2+ center increases with decreasing temperature and saturates at below 30 K, while B2 2 is nearly constant below 300 K.