Single crystal 27Al-NMR study of the cubic Γ3 ground doublet system PrTi2Al20

Abstract

We report results of 27Al-NMR measurements on a single crystal of PrTi2Al20, in which the ground state of Pr3+ ions in the crystalline electric field is the nonmagneitc Γ3 doublet. From the analysis of NMR spectra with the magnetic field applied precisely along the 111 and 100 directions, we determined the electric field gradient tensors for all three inequivalent Al sites (Al(1) ∼ Al(3) sites) and the anisotropic Knight shifts for the Al(3) sites. The hyperfine coupling tensor at the Al(3) sites is strongly anisotropic and much larger than the classical dipolar coupling, indicating importance of the anisotropic hybridization between the conduction and electron states.