Localized Modes and Spin-Lattice Interactions

Abstract

Localized lattice modes can contribute to the strain at a paramagnetic impurity and thus influence the spin-lattice interaction. Their contribution to the spin relaxation is estimated. It is governed by the rate with which a local mode attains equilibrium with the phonon continuum, estimated in a previous paper. Studies of the spin relaxation of paramagnetic substitutional impurities, lighter than the parent atom, should yield information about the nature of local modes.