Phonon Scattering by Paramagnetic Ions and Scattering by Other Defects

Abstract

When considering the effect of a magnetic field on the thermal conductivity of a crystal which contains paramagnetic ions, phonon scattering processes other than the spin-phonon interactions must be taken into account. The purpose of this note is: to point out how the effect of other phonon-scattering processes can be taken into account and show that semiquantitative agreement with experiment is possible; to suggest an experimental technique which permits the magnetothermal resistance to be used as a direct measure of the frequency dependence of the total zero-field phonon-scattering cross section without knowing the details of the line shape for the spin-phonon interaction.