Abstract
The proton spin-lattice relaxation times () and Knight shifts () have been measured as a function of temperature in fcc ( phase) and fct ( phase) for hydrogen concentrations . Interactions with the conduction electrons were found to be the only important relaxation processes below 320 K for the high-purity samples, and no anomalous temperature effects were observed between 320 and 100 K. The dominant hyperfine interaction for the protons was the transferred core-polarization term from the Zr band. Both and indicate that the density of electronic states at the Fermi level is very dependent upon hydrogen content with a maximum occurring near Zr. This behavior is ascribed to modifications in through the fcc-fct distortion associated with a Jahn-Teller effect in the bands. The proton NMR results are consistent with a recent band-theory calculation of fcc Zr and photoemission spectroscopy studies of when the changes in bands caused by the Jahn-Teller tetragonal distortion are included. The fcc-fct distortions and electronic structures of the phases are compared with the corresponding properties of the system.
- Received 26 July 1982
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.27.1474
©1983 American Physical Society